More than 35 thousand students from 143 countries study at the Near East University, the largest university in Northern Cyprus, and its sister institution, University of Kyrenia.

Near East Enterprises, along with GÜNSEL, has investments in education, finance, health, industry, tourism and technology. In Northern Cyprus with a number of employees exceeding 7,500, it is the largest employer after the state.

More than 35 thousand students from 143 countries study at the Near East University, the largest university in Northern Cyprus, and its sister institution, the University of Kyrenia.

Near East University was ranked among the top 250 universities in Europe in the "World's Best Universities 2022" list published by the international higher education rating agency AD Scientific Index, and ranked 552nd among 15,000 universities in the world.

Near East University ranks first among the Turkish and the TRNC universities in the "World Universities Ranking 2023" field rankings published by Times Higher Education, among the world's top 175 in "Computer Sciences" and among the top 200 in the world in "Engineering".

In the "World Universities Ranking" published by METU URAP in December 2022, Near East University, which is the best in the TRNC, was ranked as the 17th best university and the second best foundation university in Turkey. This scientific and academic accumulation of the Near East University lies behind the completion of GÜNSEL's R&D studies and the mass production phase.

Incorporating the Near East University, which is one of the first private institutions of higher education in Turkey and the TRNC, Enterprises provide the most contemporary education opportunities to about 5 thousand students studying in its 3 colleges (Kyrenia-Nicosia-Famagusta), each serving from kindergarten to high school.

One of the priority fields of activity of Near East Enterprises is health. It has a network of three full-fledged medical faculty hospitals (Kyrenia-Nicosia-Famagusta), two dental hospitals, three dispensaries and an animal hospital in the field of health, spanning the whole of Northern Cyprus.

Finance is one of the priority sectors. In the last 10 years, Near East Bank has been the fastest-growing bank in Northern Cyprus. The branch network has spread all over the country and its asset size has increased more than 10 times. In addition, investments in finance were diversified with insurance, life and pension companies operating under the Near East brand.

Near East operates in the tourism sector with its boutique hotels Dorona Hotel, Mimoza Hotel, Oasis Hotel and Park Palace Hotel, Park Palace Residence and Dorana Residence.

Near East Enterprises, which has been operating for about 45 years, has initiatives in the field of industry such as cable, plastic, metal, furniture, printing, cobblestone production and fuel distribution.

The Near East Enterprises is also standing out as one of the most important cultural and artistic centers of the Mediterranean, with over 100 thousand works of art and materials in the collections of the Cyprus Museum of Modern Arts, Cyprus Car Museum, Cyprus Herbarium and Natural History Museum, Walled City Museum and GÜNSEL Art Museum.

GÜNSEL - The Mediterranean's Environment-Friendly Car

GÜNSEL, of which all plant investments and R&D processes have been financed through equity by the Near East University, continues its mass production preparations as a debt-free company.

After 10 years of work at the Near East University, we established GÜNSEL in 2016 and started to work on developing a 100 percent electric car GÜNSEL. We launched the B9, the first model of GÜNSEL, of which development and prototyping processes were completed through equity, in February 2020.

Today, the investments and equipment purchases of our R&D, prototyping and management center located on the Near East University campus in Nicosia, as well as our P2 facility, which is the first phase of our mass production facilities, have been completed.

With the R&D power of Near East University, which London-based international higher education rating agency Times Higher Education has shown as one of the top 200 universities in the world in the field of Computer Science and Engineering, 13 prototypes have been produced and more than 10 thousand test drives have been carried out, all processes of which were completed by GÜNSEL engineers and designers.

With the completion of the R&D and prototyping stages of GÜNSEL, which carried out its activities on the campus of Near East University during the 2016-2022 period, the company was established in 2022 to initiate the mass production preparations.

GÜNSEL, of which all plant investments and R&D processes have been financed through equity by the Near East University, continues its mass production preparations as a debt-free company.

Prof. Dr. İrfan Suat Günsel, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Near East Enterprises, which operate with many institutions, especially Near East University, University of Kyrenia, and TRNC's domestic automobile brand GÜNSEL in the fields of education, automotive, finance, health, tourism, industry, technology and culture and arts, graduated from the Near East University Faculty of Law in 2002, following his education at the Near East College. Having completed his graduate studies in the field of law in 2004, Prof. Dr. Günsel then completed his second undergraduate education in the Department of Deck of the Maritime Faculty. He completed his doctorate education in the fields of Public Law and Law of the Sea by combining the two fields. Having many articles published in international refereed journals, Prof. Dr. İrfan Suat Günsel was promoted to the rank of associate professor in 2014 and professor in 2019.

He played a significant role in the establishment of the Near East University Innovation and Information Technologies Center, where many important projects such as solar-powered cars RA25 and RA27, world champion robotic football team, hospital-type and portable respirators, wearable health products, and the first steps of GÜNSEL, the domestic car of the TRNC, have been brought into life. He also took a significant role in the establishment of the Near East University Hospital in the field of health, which has turned into one of the most important fields of activity of Enterprises. He led to the establishment of the Cyprus Car Museum, which brings together more than 150 classic cars with its fans. Between 2002-2004, he founded the representation network of Near East University in Turkey and established Istanbul and Mersin representation units.

In 2009, he took over the position of Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Near East University from the Founding Rector of Near East University, Dr . Suat İrfan Günsel.

In 2016, he made his family's dream of producing cars in Northern Cyprus come true by founding GÜNSEL, the domestic automobile brand of the TRNC. Prof. Dr. İrfan Suat Günsel has positioned GÜNSEL not only as an electric car manufacturer but also as an energy, technology and service producer based on new technologies. Born in 1982, Prof. Dr. İrfan Suat Günsel has added high-tech fields such as electric cars, software and energy to the main activity network of the Near East Enterprises which have been operating in the fields of education, finance, tourism and health for 45 years.

Prof. Dr. İrfan Suat Günsel is married and has 4 children.

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