Minister of Family and Social Services Derya Yanık said, "The National Action Plan on the Rights of Older Persons to be implemented between 2023-2025, which includes 183 activities to be realized in line with the Ageing Vision Document, will carry the steps taken until today even further with strong cooperation and a participatory understanding."

Minister Derya Yanık stated that the vision document and action plan in question were implemented for the first time in Türkiye at the Ageing Vision Document and the National Action Plan on the Rights of the Older Persons Presentation Meeting held at a hotel in İstanbul.

Stating that the older population in Türkiye was increasing along with the world, Yanık noted that the older population in the country increased by 22.6 percent in the last 5 years and that the proportion of the population aged 65 and over in the total population reached 9.9 percent as of 2022.

Pointing out that approximately 1 out of every 10 person in Türkiye was 65 years of age or older, Yanık added, "According to population projections, we estimate that the proportion of the older population will reach 12.9 percent in 2030 and 16.3 percent in 2040."

Minister Yanık stated that the reflections of the social, economic, and cultural changes and transformations caused by the increase in the proportion of the older population became more visible.

Pointing out that as the Ministry, they intensified their work in this field by anticipating the situation that would be encountered in the future, Yanık continued as follows:

"We are a government that has adopted the principle of fighting against all kinds of discrimination in the light of our ancient civilization and faith without leaving no one behind. In the steps we take by emphasizing 'society for all ages', we see the opportunities as well as the needs that arise. In this context, we have taken important steps in the field of ageing in the last 20 years. The declaration of 2019 as the 'Year of Ageing' by Mr. President has given an important impetus to the steps taken in this field. In 2019, the advisory decisions taken at the '1^st Council on Ageing', which was organized with international participation under the auspices of the presidency and hosted by the Ministry, have also shed light on the policy framework in ageing."

Minister Yanık noted that the report of the parliamentary research commission established within the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye in 2022 to investigate the problems experienced by older persons in various areas of life and to determine the measures to be taken was published last February.

Yanık explained that in this report, the challenges in ageing were identified and a wide range of recommendations was presented. The institutions responsible for the topics in these recommendations were also identified.

Yanık reminded that they held the “Workshop on Elderly Welfare" with international participation on December 6, 2022, also hosted by the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye and in cooperation with the Ministry.

The Monitoring and Evaluation Board on the Rights of Older Persons will be established in the near future

Announcing a new practice to be implemented by the Ministry, Minister Yanık noted the following:

"The Monitoring and Evaluation Board on the Rights of Older Persons will have very important responsibilities such as conducting studies on administrative and legal regulations for the protection, development, and strengthening of the rights of older persons, making suggestions, ensuring cooperation and coordination between institutions on the rights of older persons, will be established very soon. We have also completed our legislative work on the establishment of the Board and made it ready. The Board, which will carry out its work under the coordination of the Ministry, will consist of senior representatives of all public institutions and three members of civil society organizations. I hope that the Monitoring and Evaluation Board on the Rights of Older Persons, which we believe will carry out important work in its field, will be beneficial."

Stating that the Ministry aimed to develop policies on the demographic structure of Türkiye by supporting them with field studies and national measurements, Yanık added, "In this context, the preparations for the Survey on the Profile of  Older Persons Türkiye are ongoing to obtain data in ageing in Türkiye and to create evidence-based and effective policies in line with the data obtained. We will hopefully complete this work with the Turkish Statistical Institute this year, and we will update the data every 4 years and hopefully try to improve the transformation of the population structure with measures that will turn it in favor of our nation."

Stating that the Ministry worked to raise the standard and quality of life of all citizens and older persons with a supply-oriented service approach, Yanık expressed that the Ministry aimed to raise the living standards of older persons by designing nursing homes in the country in the form of architectures like "apartment blocks", "with courtyards" and "small houses”.

Minister Derya Yanık touched upon the Ministry's services in nursing homes and stated the following:

"In 2002, 4.952 older persons were being served in 63 official nursing homes, while in 2023; we serve 14.369 older persons in 169 official nursing homes affiliated to the ministry, including the Directorate of Darülaceze, and 1840 older persons in 21 nursing homes affiliated to other public institutions. In 2002, there were 22 private nursing homes serving older persons, and this number reached 268 as of March 2023. The number of older persons receiving services from private nursing homes has reached 12.917 since March 2023."

Total of 39 million TL of resources in 7 years

Minister Yanık stated that the Ministry provided services in a home environment to the older persons staying in Elderly Living Homes within the scope of the Project for Elderly Living Homes launched in 2012 and that they supported the services of municipalities for the older persons with the Older Persons Support Program (YADES), and noted the following:

"With YADES, we ensure that older persons over the age of 65 who are in need of biological, psychological, or social care are cared for in the best way possible in the places where they live. In 7 years, we have reached 128.148 older persons in 87.479 households with 61 different projects by transferring 39 million TL resources. We take into account the new abilities, wishes, and needs of older persons as they reach a new level of maturity in the development of the services. In this regard, we have provided Digital and Financial Literacy Training to 1923 older persons receiving services from the nursing homes in 43 provinces. We have created nine Digital Spring Rooms in eight nursing homes with the Digital Spring Project, which we prepared to facilitate their adaptation to technology. We are expanding the University of the Third Age that allows older persons to study at universities. So far, 5.665 senior citizens are receiving education at 11 different Universities of the Third Age."

Derya Yanık, Minister of Family and Social Services, explained that the Ministry also organized various sports activities in nursing homes with the vision of active ageing.

Pointing out that there was fierce competition between nursing homes in the bocce tournaments organized every year, Yanık stated that the Ministry had organized 6 bocce tournaments to date.

Minister Yanık stated that the Ministry of Family and Social Services worked with a deep sense of respect for older persons who carried the historical heritage and cultural values and that the Ministry prepared the Ageing Vision Document in cooperation with all responsible and relevant public institutions, civil society organizations and universities under the coordination of the Ministry to take all these efforts one step further.

The Ageing Vision Document has been defined under 16 goals and 51 action items

Providing information about the Ageing Vision Document, Yanık continued as follows:

We have identified 16 objectives and 51 action items in 6 policy areas to achieve the objectives of strengthening the rights of older persons by combating age discrimination to increase the awareness of active and healthy ageing, to diversify service and support models for older persons with a rights-based, inclusive and sustainable approach, to strengthen intergenerational solidarity, to encourage the participation of older persons in social development by benefiting from their knowledge and experience, to strengthen their participation in social life together with other persons and to enable them to realize themselves, to provide accessible environments for all ages, to develop an understanding of protection and intervention with an inclusive approach for older persons in disasters and humanitarian emergencies.

Derya Yanık, Minister of Family and Social Services, expressed: "The National Action Plan on the Rights of Older Persons to be implemented between 2023-2025, which includes 183 activities to be implemented in line with the Ageing Vision Document, setting out the national vision in the field of ageing on the way to becoming an inclusive society and requiring a holistic approach as a common roadmap, will carry the steps taken so far even further with strong cooperation and a participatory approach. In the Century of Türkiye, we will take firm steps towards becoming a 'society for all ages' without severing our ties with the past and being aware of the value that older persons add to our society."

Elmas Esra Ceceli, General Director of Services for Persons with Disabilities and Elderly in the Ministry of Family and Social Services delivered a speech at the end of the program and the attendees took a "family photo".