Greetings. As a Kültür2000 College and IKU graduate, Kültür has a great importance in my life. For this reason, I do not mind introducing myself as a “Kültür” ist. My paths with Kültür crossed when I was a child. After graduating from Kültür2000 College in 2009, I studied at Pertevniyal High School. In 2013, I returned to Kültür and graduated from IKU Faculty of Law. For this reason, I am both a member of Kültür College Alumni Association and a member of İKÜMED.

Thanks to the strong academic staff of IKU Faculty of Law, I received a very good law education. Taking advantage of the international opportunities offered by Kültür, I have been at Ruhr Universitaet Bochum as an Erasmus + exchange student for a year. Thanks to this, I had the opportunity to get to know people and different cultures from all over the world by improving my English and German.

After completing the Erasmus + program and returning to Kültür, I worked as a "Kültür Ambassador" in the Corporate Communication Directorate to explain my experiences to candidates who will choose a university. I tried to help the candidates who will choose by explaining their university life and legal education.

I attended the "Izmir Human Rights Academy", which is traditionally organized every year by IKU Faculty of Law. I had the opportunity to discuss the human rights dimension of law with law students and academics from different legal disciplines. The papers I presented at the academy were published in the journal "Fasikül", which is the official publication of IKU Faculty of Law.

My student years at IKU were also very dynamic socially. After completing the diction and oratory courses given at IKU, I worked as a presenter in many events at our university. Among them, the most memorable one was the 2015 launch of the book "Education Engineer" by the Civil Engineer MSc.  Fahamettin Akıngüç, Honorary Chairman of IKU Board of Trustees. In addition, I took part in the organization team of TEDxIKU events held in Ataköy campus.

In my last year in Kültür, I applied for the Jean Monnet Scholarship Program, financed by the European Union. I qualified for the scholarship by passing the written exam and completed my master's degree in International and European Business Law at Trinity College Dublin. Printed on stage with my master's thesis, I wrote about the corporate governance regime of companies in Turkey. I am currently working as a consultant for a multinational company in Dublin.

Kültür played an important role in shaping my future thanks to its dynamic student life with its strong academic staff and international connections. Although I am physically far from Kültür, my bond with it is still very strong thanks to IKÜMED.

Atakan Köken, LL.M.
Kültür2000 College (2009) and IKU Law Alumni (2017)
January 6, 2021
Churchtown/Dublin