Modern Turkey has roots going back to the entry of Turks into Anatolia (Asia Minor) in the 10th Century, from Central Asia through Iran. In Anatolia they mingled with the existing Byzantine Empire, absorbing and adding to, the many Anatolian civilisations and cultures which have existed since earliest times including Hittites, Assyrians, Ionian Greeks, and Romans. The Ottoman conquests, from the 14th Century onward, took Turks into the Balkans, Central Europe, the Caucasus, the Black Sea periphery, the Middle East and North Africa. Current Turkey mingles all these influences after a long historical process of mutual transformation.

Yeditepe University has the advantage of being situated in Istanbul, the biggest city in Europe and the former capital of three empires (Eastern Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman); and a historical centre of Islam, Orthodox Christianity and Eastern Christianity. Since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul has continued to be the major city, if not the titular capital, in a Republic, which has inspired 20th Century movements of national liberation and secular reform. As the commercial centre of modern Turkey, it continues to join the Balkans and Anatolia, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. The people of Istanbul have roots, and continuing links with Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Middle East and Europe.

Yeditepe means Seven Hills. This refers to the legendary Seven Hills of Istanbul. Yeditepe belongs to a new wave of foundation universities established in Turkey since the 1985s.

Yeditepe University was established in 1996 by the İstanbul Education and Culture Foundation (İSTEKVAKFI) which promotes education on a non-profit basis in Istanbul. Apart from several schools, it also supports Yeditepe University. The President of the Board of Trustees of the İSTEK Foundation is Mr. Bedrettin Dalan, the ex-Mayor of Istanbul and deputy in the Turkish National Assembly who also founded the İSTEK Foundation. The Board of Trustees brings together representatives of major businesses and public organisations in Turkey.

Yeditepe University was established under the leadership of the Chairman of the Foundation, Mr. Bedrettin Dalan. Under the Higher Education Code, all foundation universities are public legal entities and enjoy financial and administrative autonomy.

With its highly distinguished academic and administrative personnel, many of whom have made outstanding contributions to Turkish society, the University has deservedly earned a leading position in the echelons of the Higher Educational System in Turkey. Our aim is to educate the young group as enlightened individuals, fully capable of dealing with the demands of the contemporary modern world, culturally rounded with technological skills and dedicated to the ideals of secularism, progress and creativity inspired by Atatürk's principles.

The educational programs are geared towards securing this objective in the light of rapid global developments of the 21 century.