Minister of Family and Social Services Derya Yanık commented: "Recently, we have carried out many activities from health care to education, from employment to politics, from access to justice to the development of services to support the independent lives of persons with disabilities. We have made significant progress towards the active participation of persons with disabilities in economic, social, and cultural life."

Minister Yanık, who was in Kayseri to attend various programs, first met with Provincial Chairman Şaban Çopuroğlu and Metropolitan Mayor Memduh Büyükkılıç at the Provincial Directorate of AK Parti.

Minister Yanık said in her speech that AK Parti had a political culture based on common sense in all its political habits and ways of practicing politics.

Stating that the Turkish nation considered it a duty to extend its hand to the oppressed and aggrieved wherever possible, Minister Yanık continued as follows:

"Today, we are demonstrating this by reaching out to both earthquake survivors and refugees in Kayseri. Unfortunately, February 6 has taken its place in the history of Türkiye as a moment of great sadness. We lost over 50.000 of our citizens, and I wish them all God's grace. Hundreds of thousands of our citizens are wounded and I wish them a speedy recovery. However, this nation is a noble nation; this nation is a grand nation. Everyone rushed to the earthquake zone almost immediately with a sense of immense mobilization to help. Kayseri is one of the leading provinces with the help of both our metropolitan municipality and other charitable citizens. Therefore, God willing, we are rushing to heal the wounds of the earthquake survivors, and we have already started to do so."

Minister Yanık stated that reaching out to citizens to identify their needs and transforming politics into services for citizens was one of the most important changes brought by AK Parti to Turkish political history.

Emphasizing that as institutions, it was necessary to consolidate and maintain the trust of citizens, Minister Yanık recorded the following:

"In the future, we will continue the work with great sincerity, diligence, and devotion, and we will hopefully complete the period well by explaining to the nation what we have accomplished, the reason for the existence of the AK Parti in politics, and where it has come from and where it has taken it to, correctly and clearly. May 14^th is an important process. Every election is important in Turkish politics, but this election is particularly important. A will in terms of arbitration and the continuation of the gains of Türkiye in the last 20 years has been put forward both by us and by Türkiye. Thus, we continue to draw a vision of the future for the nation as the AK Parti. The AK Parti’s vision is based on developing, building, and multiplying. We are determined and committed to continue to do so, and we tell the nation about it as much as we can wherever we go to make this promise."

Minister Yanık also visited Metropolitan Mayor Memduh Büyükkılıç and MHP Provincial Chairman Adnan İncetoprak.

The Minister visited Besime Özderici Barrier-Free Living Center and received brief information about the center from the authorities. Minister Yanık chatted with the children, played games, and planted strawberry seedlings in the greenhouse located in the garden of the center.

"We have made significant progress towards the active participation of persons with disabilities in economic, social, and cultural life"

Minister Yanık then attended the opening ceremony of the Barrier-Free Living Care, Rehabilitation and Family Counseling Center in Kayseri's Develi district, and stated in her speech there that under the leadership of President of the Republic of Türkiye Mr.Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, policies were being developed in line with the principle of "people first".

Minister Yanık stated that with the rights-based policies developed, the Ministry ensured that citizens with disabilities took part in all areas of social life on an equal basis with other persons.

Explaining that the Ministry carried out important work on the rights of persons with disabilities, Minister Yanık said, "Recently, we have carried out many activities from health care to education, from employment to politics, from access to justice to the development of services to support the independent lives of persons with disabilities. We have made significant progress towards the active participation of persons with disabilities in economic, social, and cultural life."

Emphasizing that the Ministry strived to observe the rights of persons with disabilities in every field and to raise their living standards, Minister Yanık continued as follows:

"We have realized a first in the world in terms of employment of persons with disabilities in the public sector in 2012. We launched the centralized exam system E-KPSS. The number of public employees with disabilities has increased 12 times since 2002 and reached 65,662. We first began home care services for persons with disabilities in 2006. We have made over 89 billion liras in-home care allowances to the relatives of persons with severe disabilities until today. Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder so it is an area we need to pay special attention to its increasing prevalence rates in the world and Türkiye. Given these developments, we have taken and continue to take measures to address the needs of persons with autism spectrum disorders and their families, with an effort to work specifically on the problems of each group of persons with disabilities in line with the government policy. The autism screening and follow-up program, which was launched with the first action plan, has begun to enable our children to be diagnosed early and therefore to have access to early education. It is actually our primary duty as government institutions to make autism no longer an obstacle for persons and to provide opportunities to facilitate their lives. However, it is the duty of both the government and all members of society to see our differences as diversity and to integrate them into social life. We, as the Ministry, have accelerated the education and awareness-raising efforts on autism spectrum disorder and have made significant progress in raising awareness in all segments of society."

Minister Yanık stated that training continued without interruption in 81 provincial directorates to provide social life skills to children with autism spectrum disorder and to support their families,

Minister Yanık stated that the Ministry continued to increase the number of accessible day care service centers enabling persons with autism spectrum disorders to integrate into society, and work for them to become productive, independent, self-confident persons, considering the differences of the person:

"Today, we have taken our work one step further and announced the Second National Action Plan for Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder prepared under the coordination of the Ministry on April 2, World Autism Awareness Day with the understanding of 'A better life is possible for everyone'. The plan of the Ministry has identified effective policies that increase the capacity of persons with autism spectrum disorder in the provision of services such as early diagnosis, early intervention, care, education, health care, social services, and family support without discrimination with an understanding of inclusiveness as the main objective. The action plan, which we have prepared in cooperation with CSOs and academia in a transparent process in which the demands of all stakeholders are received, has a key importance to realizing our common goals in the field of autism and the goals we have set out to achieve with effective coordination and cooperation. I believe that with the new road map on autism spectrum disorder, which we have determined with the contributions of all stakeholders, we will carry out 78 activities related to 30 action fields that will contribute to the protection, development, and strengthening of the rights of persons with autism spectrum disorder."

Explaining that Ministry would increase the number of institutions specialized in the field of autism, both day careand residential care, Minister Yanık stated: " I am pleased to launch with you today the Kayseri Develi Barrier-Free Living Care Rehabilitation and Family Counseling Center, which will provide residential care services to persons with autism spectrum disorder with a capacity of 63 following Sincan Autism Active Living Center opened in Ankara, and centers in Aydın, Antalya and Mersin."

Minister Yanık also emphasized that the country had become an exemplary country in the world in terms of raising the living standards of persons with disabilities. Minister Yanık also emphasized that the country had become an exemplary country in the world in terms of raising the living standards of persons with disabilities.

Minister Yanık also attended during her visit the funeral ceremony of Mustafa Duru, 22^nd Term AK Parti Deputy Mustafa Duru, who passed away at the age of 74 in Kayseri. Minister Yanık expressed her condolences to Duru's family.

"The reason for being in politics is to transform the real will of this nation into the will that governs this nation"

Minister Yanık also attended the "2023 AK Parti Kayseri Organization - Iftar Meeting" organized by the Provincial Directorate of AK Parti and stated that AK Parti politics were based on effort and work.

Explaining that the AK Parti did not lean back on the organizations intending to manipulate, Minister Yanık mentioned that the party was, on the contrary, a political movement that would fight against them.

Minister Yanık emphasized that the Ministry would continue to explain their services to the citizens and continued as follows:

"We have no choice but to work, to produce, to convince the nation, to tell the nation what we have achieved. The only reason why we have achieved results so far is that we have been working, laboring, and making efforts. It will be just the case from now on as well. The reason for being in politics is to transform the real will of this nation into the will that governs this nation. This is why we are in politics. We are in the month of Ramadan. This nation would still be hearing the call to prayer as 'Tanrı uludur' if it had not transformed its will into a government through the polls. Today, if the cry of 'Allahu Akbar' rises from mosques and minarets, it is thanks to politics. This is the result of the nation's ability to express its will through the polls. Therefore, politics for us is a means of revealing the nation's own authentic character, essence, and spirituality and transforming it into a form of governance."

"We accept that a person is worthy of any kind of service and support"

Emphasizing that the Ministry accepted humans as the most honorable of creatures, Minister Yanık stated, "That is why we accept that humankind is worthy of all kinds of services and support. In this regard, we are continuing on our way by diversifying the services and multiplying them as much as possible. Therefore, we also attach importance to the existence of this nation's own spirituality, intellect, ideas, values, and the existence of politics to govern this nation while increasing these services. AK Parti's struggle against these centers of institutions intending to manipulate has continued while providing services to citizens for the last 20 years to prevent them from casting a shadow over politics. The People's Alliance is the name of the movement of uniting ideals to build the future of the country. The People's Alliance is a partnership of those who strive to build the future of this country together and to cleanse the future of this country from threats."

"We are facing some opponents who have adopted the mentality that the enemy of my enemy is my friend"

Stating that Kayseri was an outstanding example of this partnership, Minister Yanık noted the following:

"Looking at the world we live in, we are confronted with a number of adversaries who are different from each other, more diverse than one another, and who, at some point, have adopted the mentality that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. We have an opposition that has vowed to bring back before the nation all the issues that we have been trying to eliminate and remove from the structure we call ‘old Türkiye’: from the threat of the country's division to the country being manipulated, from the exploitation of the country's resources to the reproduction of a small group of happy minorities. We will fight this, friends. We cannot leave the future of this nation to those who promise to take us back to the 2000s, 90s, and 80s as if it is new politics. We will once again plan, produce and execute the future of this nation brighter for the 21^st and 22^nd century, for the times ahead, and for the future. We are the ones that are going to do this. We will do this as the children of this nation. We will do this as the people who have emerged from the heart of this nation and found a place for themselves in it. We will do it as the people who have never distanced themselves from the nation, as the people who have never stopped seeing the nation. We will do it as those who are eye to eye with the nation, who do not look down on them."