Our Faculty's 2025-2026 Academic Year Graduation Ceremony was held with broad participation at the Selcuklu Congress Center. The young jurists who completed their education in the First Education (day) and Second Education (evening) programs took their oath after receiving their diplomas and took their first step into their professional lives. 

The ceremony was held in two sessions, morning and afternoon. The morning session was attended by Selcuk University Vice-Rector Prof. Dr. Haldun SOYDAL and Prof. Dr. Ahmet Ak, Necmettin Erbakan University Faculty of Law Dean Prof. Dr. Nuran KOYUNCU and our Dean Prof. Dr. Berrin Akbulut, Konya Bar Association President Oktay UNKUR, our vice-deans, our academic and administrative staff, and our students and their families. 

In the Normal (Day) Program, following the moment of silence and the National Anthem, and after the University's promotional film, our students who lost their lives in the 2023 earthquake that deeply grieved our country were commemorated. 4th-year Student Representative Mevlut Berat OZ then delivered his speech, saying that being a jurist means not only knowing the laws but being able to defend justice. He concluded with the words of Gazi Mustafa Kemal ATATURK: “The existence as a state of a nation whose power of justice is not independent cannot be accepted.” 

In part of the speech by our Dean Prof. Dr. Berrin AKBULUT:

“Today I would like to speak about the transformation that the age of artificial intelligence brings to education, law, and professional life. Every age has attributed different meanings to education and knowledge. Once, the criterion of being elite was being able to access knowledge; the person who possessed knowledge was considered privileged. With the proliferation of knowledge, what became decisive was the ability to organize it and establish meaningful relationships. Today, we stand before an entirely different threshold. Thanks to artificial intelligence, access to knowledge has become easier than ever, and reaching knowledge has ceased to be a privilege in itself. In accessing knowledge, humanity is now confronted not with its own limits but with the capacity of the systems it has developed. For this reason, the most valuable people of the future will not be those who possess superficial knowledge, but those who possess knowledge deepened in a particular field, who can adapt to change, think critically, and combine the creative side of the human being with technology. Because the real issue is no longer knowledge itself, but how it is evaluated, verified, and positioned within a whole. Today it is easy to reach knowledge, but wisdom is still difficult for people. 

This is precisely where the reason for the university's existence emerges. For universities are not merely institutions that transmit knowledge. They are institutions that instill a way of thinking, develop the ability to solve complex problems, make one grasp the place of knowledge within a system of values, and provide the vision to read the future. For this reason, the problem we face today is how abundant knowledge will be filtered, how it will be evaluated, and for what purposes it will be used. Indeed, the age we live in will make valuable not those who consume knowledge, but those who can continually reconstruct it.

One of the professions that will be most affected by these developments is law. Law is the effort to seek the good and the right, and a discipline of systematic thinking. For this reason, the jurist of the future will not be a subject who merely uses knowledge; they will be those who have the competence to question, evaluate, and audit knowledge and, when necessary, reconstruct it by passing it through the filter of justification. This competence makes continuous development and deepening in one's field mandatory. In law, every decision in which knowledge is used produces a result, and every result carries a responsibility that directly touches human life.

Dear graduates, today we are experiencing together a special day on which the labor, patience, and effort you have shown over the years have found their reward. I know very well that this process was not easy. But when you look back in the future, you will see that the periods that developed you the most were not the times when you were most comfortable, but the periods in which you put in the most effort and struggled the most.” 

PROF. DR. AK: “THE AUTHORITY IN YOUR HANDS IS NOT POWER BUT A TRUST” 

Our University Vice-Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Ak, stating that law is not merely the language of laws but the memory of society and the embodiment of the sense of justice, said:

“We are now people who will look at a case not only from the perspective of the parties, but from the window of truth and equity. The authority in our hands is not a power but a trust; the knowledge we possess is not a privilege but a responsibility. Let us not forget that the peace and future of the society we live in will be shaped by the trust placed in law and in us who represent it. While practicing our profession, let us keep conscience as much as knowledge, the human being as much as the law, and virtue as much as success by our side. At the same time, as a former student of yours, I sincerely thank you for your valuable efforts and guidance behind this success, and I congratulate you.” 

The Selcuk University Anatolian-Caucasus Folk Dances ensemble performed zeybek dances. 

PLAQUES FOR THE TOP-RANKING STUDENTS 

Following the speeches of the Normal (Day) Program valedictorians, graduation certificates and plaques were presented to our Faculty's Normal Program first-place Zeynep BULGURCU, second-place Ali CAN, and third-place Turkkan AKKUS. A graduation certificate (berat) and flowers were presented to our Vice-Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet AK, a graduate of our Faculty. Our students' certificates were then presented. 

IN THE NORMAL PROGRAM, THERE WAS JOY AND TEARS AT THE FINALE 

In the final part of the ceremony, graduation certificates and berats were presented to the graduating students by our faculty members who trained them. The students, all together, joyfully threw their caps into the air as our Vice-Dean Prof. Dr. Mehmet AKCAAL administered the graduation oath. The families and faculty members shared in the joy of our students stepping into professional life. It was observed that some families, sharing in their children's joy, were moved and could not hold back their tears. 

SECOND SESSION 

Hosted by our Dean Prof. Dr. Berrin Akbulut, the session was attended by Konya Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Ahmet Murat KORU, Selcuklu Municipality Deputy Mayor Mustafa Yavuz TEZCAN, our vice-deans, our academic and administrative staff, and our students and their families. 

In the Second Education Program, following the moment of silence and the National Anthem, and after the University's promotional film, our students who lost their lives in the 2023 earthquake that deeply grieved our country were commemorated. In his speech, 4th-year Student Representative Emre KARADAYI emphasized: “In the light of the ideas of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who left us as a democratic, secular state of law, I wish all my friends success in their professional lives.”

Our Dean Prof. Dr. Berrin Akbulut, who gave the opening speech at the ceremony, addressed the students: “Today you are experiencing one of your most beautiful, most special days. You came to this Faculty knowledgeable and well-equipped, and you are leaving it more knowledgeable, more equipped, and more mature. Here you did not only acquire academic knowledge and skills; you also became individuals who respect human rights, embrace universal principles, have a conscience, question, empathize, and are self-confident. You have received until now the might and strength that will bring you success in life, and you will continue to receive it hereafter. The education and culture you gained here will always guide you and illuminate your path.”

This was followed by the speech of Konya Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Mayor Ahmet Murat KORU. 

PLAQUES FOR THE TOP-RANKING STUDENTS

Following the speeches of the Second Education Program valedictorians, graduation certificates and plaques were presented to our Faculty's Second Education Program first-place Kivanc ARDIC, second-place Ahmet Selcuk Turkmen, and third-place Ummugulsum CETIN. Our students' certificates were then presented.

The Selcuk University Anatolian-Caucasus Folk Dances ensemble performed zeybek dances. 

IN THE SECOND EDUCATION PROGRAM, THERE WAS JOY AND TEARS AT  THE FINALE

In the final part of the ceremony, graduation certificates and berats were presented to the graduating students by our faculty members who trained them. The students, all together, joyfully threw their caps into the air as our Vice-Dean Prof. Dr. Mehmet AKCAAL administered the graduation oath.