Zehra Zümrüt SELÇUK, Minister of Family, Labour and Social Services, attended the Public Recruitment Ceremony (Social Assignment Ceremony) held with the honoring of President Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN.
Delivering a speech at the public recruitment ceremony held at the Presidential Complex for youth, disabled, veterans and martyrs' relatives and veterans, President Erdoğan expressed: "We are here to recruit 193 of our youth, 2 thousand 140 of our citizens with disabilities, and 370 of our veterans and the relatives of our martyrs and veterans". Wishing the recruitment of 3 thousand 603 people to various public institutions to be beneficial for all, Erdoğan continued his speech as follows:
"I wish success to these brothers and sisters in their places of duty. I congratulate those who contributed to the transformation of this practice which I see as a manifestation of the social state specified by the Constitution. In our tradition, in addition to its many other qualities, the state is considered to be the protector of the orphans. As the state, it is our duty to be parents and take care of our children who lost their families due to death or any other causes. There are many structures established for this purpose from the Orphans Regulations in the Ottoman period to the establishment of Darüşşafaka (Ottoman Secondary School for Orphans), which is still active.
Protecting orphans is included in the deed of almost all foundations, which are the most important institutions of our history and spread from our country to the whole world. The modesty of the deceased Kazım Karabekir Pasha who protected orphans in Eastern Anatolia during the First World War is still alive in our memories today.
"They could neither receive a proper education nor have a profession"
President Erdoğan expressed that in addition to meeting all the needs and basic education of 4 thousand boys and 2 thousand girls under his auspices, Kazım Karabekir provided them with a job. President Erdoğan also expressed that unfortunately this type of model could not be continued.
Reminding that when the current government came into power, children under the protection of the state had been housed in large dormitories where hundreds stayed together, Erdogan stated: "Unfortunately, our children who lacked the climate in which they could adapt to society could neither receive proper education nor have a profession in this environment. We have changed the model of raising our children under state protection in cooperation with non-governmental organizations."
Stating that instead of accommodating children in very large dormitories with the ward system, they switched to house order and opened these houses in the neighborhoods, Erdoğan explained: "We tried to ensure that our children attend the same school with the children of other families, play on the same street, and breathe the same atmosphere. To date, we have created 111 children's house sites, 1193 children's houses and 65 child support centers. We have given special training to our staff who will work here. We are currently caring for 13,524 children in these homes that we have prepared as close as to the family environment."
Stating that by supporting families, they ensure that children live with their own parents or relatives as much as possible, Erdoğan explained: “With the support we have given in this framework in the past 18 years, we have ensured that nearly 652 thousand children live alongside their families. In the last 8 years alone, the amount of support we have provided for this purpose, 86 percent of which is directly to mothers, is 6.9 billion TL. Another application that we pay attention to and try to develop recently is the 'foster family system'. Currently, our 7 thousand 864 children maintain their lives alongside foster families that are very precisely identified and strictly supervised. Moreover, 795 of them are children with special needs.”
Erdogan stated: “I also express my gratitude to the families who adopted orphans. Public employment of children under state protection has been ongoing since 1988. In 2014, we made these children's jobs easier by transforming their public employment into central placement. We have also ensured that they are recruited in line with their own branches and according to their education levels. When we came to power, the number of children under state protection who were placed in public jobs was 21 thousand 300. Today, this number has exceeded 55 thousand. Only in the last 2.5 years, we have placed nearly 7 thousand children in the public sector. With the incentives we implemented, we have ensured the employment of nearly 4,600 young people in the private sector. We consider every penny we spend for our orphans from the public budget as the alms of the state. Hopefully, by expanding practices such as 'support within family' and 'foster family’, we are determined to make sure that no children are left unattended and disconnected from the society."
Pointing out that the shortest way to measure the conscience of a society is to look at its behavior towards persons with disabilities, Erdoğan emphasized that the society that protects the disabled will have an indestructible structure.
Drawing attention to the fact that Turkey had some cases that made hearts bleed because right policies regarding this matter could not be developed for years, Erdoğan expressed: “Our disabled brothers and sisters had been condemned to live in isolation from society, within the four walls of their homes. After coming to power, one of the issues that we focused on and followed closely is the activities on reintegrating our people with disabilities into society.”
Reminding that they introduced Turkish Disability Act in 2005 and shortly after that Turkey ranked among the countries which signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Erdoğan stated that they started to provide care services for persons with disabilities who need personal assistance in order to maintain their lives. Expressing that they provide care support for nearly 536 thousand persons with disabilities who live with their families, Erdoğan said: "We provide inpatient care services to nearly 29 thousand people with disabilities in 541 public and private centers. All health services needed by our citizens with disabilities are covered under General Health Insurance. We have also ensured that disability reports, which were a source of serious distress since they were taken separately for each institution in the past, can be viewed electronically by all institutions. We have made very serious regulations on accessibility, which is important for the participation of persons with disabilities and older persons in social life. We have also taken revolutionary steps in the field of employment, some of which we all witness here today. We established a quota & levy scheme based on central placement so that 3 percent of the civil servant positions in public institutions, which are allocated to persons with disabilities, can be used effectively."
"Companionship is the Greatest of Honors"
Reminding that the central placement method has also been adopted for public workers, Erdogan said, "Thus, we increased the number of civil servants with disabilities, which was only 5 thousand 777 in 2002, to 58 thousand 319. Thus, we increased the rate of filled in quotas in the public sector to the level of 82%".
Emphasizing that they adopt positive discrimination against persons with disabilities in all areas from appointment to relocation, from the distribution of tasks in the workplace to the working order, Erdoğan said: "Thanks to all these efforts, we witness that our citizens with disabilities are actively involved in all fields of life. I hope we will continue to serve persons with disabilities in the coming period and always support them. Our brothers who are honored by being veterans and the relatives entrusted us by our martyrs have a special place in our hearts. There is no greater sacrifice than knowingly and willingly walking on one’s own death for his belief and duty, although he has no obligation to do so. In this regard, the relatives of our martyrs and veterans have always held high esteem for us. It is the greatest honor for us to accompany each of our brothers who act in accordance with the dignity, honor and sensitivity of these rankings, which are the joyful tidings of Allah, to our last breath. Our nation has protected the relatives of martyrs and veterans throughout its history. Our state has provided various opportunities to these people with various regulations from past to present".
President Erdoğan stated that after the current government came to power, they always cared about the relatives of the martyrs and the veterans, expanding the rights and opportunities of the veterans they inherited from the past from the War of Independence to Korea and Cyprus.
"Considerable Number of Supports Provided"
Stating that they have provided considerable supports in many different categories in the fields of fight against terrorism, cross-border operations, martyrs and veterans of attempted coup of July 15, Erdogan explained that they have implemented practices satisfying the hearts of these people in every issue from compensation to salary from health and education support to employment. Erdoğan continued his words as follows:
"When we came into power, the number of people employed in the public sector was 6 thousand 315, and today the number of those employed in the same scope has approached to 45 thousand. Of course, no matter what we do, we cannot pay the rights of our martyrs and veterans; we are fully aware of the fact that the greatest honor is to have these titles in the eyes of our nation and before Allah. However, as the state, we try to express our gratitude to veterans and to the relatives of our martyrs by offering them all the means at our disposal. On this occasion, I wish Allah's mercy once again to all our martyrs. I hope Allah will allow us to be among the ones that can be worthy of them "
Drawing attention to the fact that high capacity of Turkey's infrastructure and the depth of social state have manifested much better in crisis, Erdoğan explained that during the epidemic period, not only the strength of the health infrastructure and General Health Insurance was seen, but also the coverage of the social support system was tested.
“The Issue of Vaccine in Highly Developed Countries”
"We witnessed neither a health crisis nor a social breakdown that burnt our hearts throughout the pandemic period which is about to complete its first year. On the contrary, with our social protection shield payments exceeding 46 billion TL and the support we have provided in a wide area, we have ensured the survival of our country. Look, there is a vaccine shortage in the most developed countries of the world. Thanks to the steps we have taken in vaccination right now, we have started to get our vaccines quickly with the payment we have made, and I hope 50 million doses of vaccine will come to our country at the first stage. We started the vaccination rapidly and it is now continuing. As the government, we have managed to leave behind with the least trouble, a process in which heartbreaking scenes were witnessed even in the most prosperous countries of the world. This year's budget exceeds 81 billion lira for social support expenditures. I hope we will continue to be with our citizens from every walk of life whenever they need it.”
Wishing the current recruitment process to be beneficial to 3 thousand 603 youth, persons with disabilities, martyrs' relatives, veterans and their relatives, Erdoğan expressed: "I wish success to each of you in your places of duty. I greet you all with love and respect."
“We Pursue To Do The Best In All Fields For Our Disabled Brothers And Sisters”
Delivering a speech at the Social Appointment Ceremony, Minister Selçuk emphasized that the policies that put people in the center and reinforce social justice by strengthening the understanding of social state are always priorities.
Minister Selçuk stated that the prerequisite for being a modern society is to be a social state and that the social state offers citizens equality of opportunity in every field, protects disadvantaged groups and increases social peace.
Pointing out that social development is possible with comprehensive and holistic approaches to social services, assistance and security, Selçuk noted that they expand social services to include families, children, women, the elderly, persons with disabilities, martyrs, veterans and all segments of the society.
Minister Selçuk stated that they are on the ground so that there will be no needy citizens who cannot be reached through 1003 Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations.
Stating that today’s public recruitment is the result of their successful human and social development steps and are complementary to their social policy practices, Selçuk said that they are here to open a new door to the future of persons with disabilities, young people raised under state protection, martyrs, veterans and relatives of veterans. Minister Selçuk continued her words as follows:
"The rights and struggles of persons with disabilities have become one of the most important issues of the modern world. We seek to do the best in every field for our disabled brothers and sisters, to realize every work that will increase their joy and self-confidence. We have been with our disabled siblings and families in every field from education to health, employment to social life. As in the care services we offer and all other social service areas, we aim to support and care for disabled people with their families first. With our day care service, We reach our citizens with disabilities who receive care from family members. We contribute to their socialization. We host them temporarily free of charge in our institutions for up to 45 days.
We currently have 124 Day Care Centers, 117 of which have been opened in the last 2 years. As a last resort, we introduce inpatient care services depending on the needs. We do not only look at the quantity of services, but we also strive to take steps to improve our service standards in terms of quality. In order to provide a roadmap to all these efforts, we have gathered our efforts to address our barriers under 2030 Disability Vision Document and Disability Rights Action Plan together with all our stakeholders. "
Selçuk stated that in Turkey, they have initiated the National Early Intervention Program in which the disability risk would be identified in terms of the babies and children's development, their development would be followed and the families would be included and that they aim to minimize the loss in the newborn period.
Stating that they consider employment as one of the most important pillars of social welfare and equal opportunity, Selçuk stated that the employment of disabled people in the private sector has reached 125 thousand with facilitating and encouraging policies such as the Employment Agency's Long-Term Active Workforce Programs, Barrier-Free Job Coaching Projects, and Sheltered Workshop Models, apart from the obligation of compulsory labor.
Selçuk stated that within the scope of İŞKUR grant support, they have supported the disabled in order to enable them establish their own businesses with more than 100 million resources. Emphasizing that they approach children with special care, Selçuk stated that they are the future of the country and that they are trying to raise children in the best possible way.
"The Ratio of Our Children Benefiting From Family-Oriented Services Reached 91%"
Selçuk stated: "I would like to proudly express that during the period of our governments, our rate of children benefiting from family oriented services increased from 39 percent to 91 percent. In this sense, we raise our children as Turkish young people who are engaged in sports and arts in places closest to family warmth, who are loyal to their national and spiritual values, and who look at the future with hope."
Reminding that they initiated the Promotion of Child-Friendly Practices and Combating Obscene Contents Project last year, they established the Warning Platform and the Hotline of Intervention to Obscene Contents within the scope of the project, Selçuk expressed that throughout Turkey, they would start mobilization and awareness activities for this line and platfrom as well.
Minister Selçuk said, "We support our youth, who are under the protection of the state, both in our private sector incentives and with public appointments in all areas of life. As the state, we will continue to protect every child left unattended in this country. "
Stating that they are here thanks to the heroes who made history without hesitation for the homeland, state, nation and flag, Selçuk stated: "I remember all our martyrs with mercy and gratitude once again, and I wish Allah bless each one of our veterans". Selçuk stated that they will continue to protect the efforts of martyrs and veterans, and they will continue to provide services related to economic and social opportunities in many areas from education to health, from shelter to transportation.
Pointing out that with today's 3 thousand 603 recruitments, a total of 127 thousand 580 social assignments will be completed in the last 19 years, Selçuk expressed: "Today, our recruitment results will be reflected on the screens and you will see our appointment list on the web pages of our Ministry by 17.30. Today will be a new beginning in the lives of our brothers and sisters who are recruited. I sincerely believe that you will shoulder the responsibility to see service as serving Allah."
An Oil Painting from the Istanbul Saray Children's Houses Site was Presented to President Erdoğan
In the program; Perihan Çetin, Hasret Çarboğa from Saray Children's Houses Site and Hakkı Çakıcı, visually impaired Onur Yılmaz and his wife Canan Yılmaz from Istanbul Yakacık Hatice Abbas Saray Children's Houses Site gave a concert under the baton of Music Teacher Dilan Kayacı. Then a promotional film was shown.
Minister Selçuk and Alim Yavuz, who benefited from state protection, delivered speeches in the program, and the speeches were monitored in sign language from the stage for the disabled.
In the program, an oil painting, featuring President Erdoğan with a child, painted by Nuray Ariz and Furkancan Gürel from the Istanbul Saray Children's Houses Site was presented to President Erdoğan. Later, President Erdogan, together with Minister Selcuk, started the recruitment process.