Our Minister of Family and Social Services Derya Yanık said: “Our biggest goal is for persons with disabilities to lead their own lives as independently as possible. We are doing our best so that they can live a life where they can exist effectively in all areas of social life as free and independent individuals, and we will continue to do so."

The fifth and last meeting of the "Academy Meetings", organized by the Ministry of Family and Social Services to develop the consultation mechanism with academicians who are experts in their fields, was held with the theme of "disability." In her speech at the meeting, Minister Yanık stated that they see each individual as the essential element of social development, regardless of distinctions such as women, men, children, young, old and with disabilities. Yanık said that the Turkish Disability Act, which they enacted in 2005 and which sets out the basic policy, is one of the most important indicators of this understanding.

Noting that they have made significant progress towards the participation of persons with disabilities in economic, social and cultural life, Yanık stated that they have been working on many topics, such as health, education, employment, participation in political life, access to justice, the development of community-based services that will support the independent lives of persons with disabilities.

Reminding that persons with disabilities and their companions can travel free of charge on urban public transportation and intercity rail and sea routes, Yanık said that students with disabilities, who are provided with free transportation from their homes to their schools, can also receive free education in special education and rehabilitation centres.

Public employment for 65,662 persons with disabilities

Emphasizing that as AK Party government, they care not only about meeting the needs of persons with disabilities but also their participation in working life, Minister Yanık said that in this context, they have made it compulsory to employ persons with disabilities in certain level workplaces, including the public, and they have increased the occupancy rate of persons with disabilities to 80 percent.

Noting that they increased the number of persons with disabilities working in the public sector from 5,777 in 2002 to 65,662 as of November 2022, Yanık pointed out that they increased the salaries of persons with disabilities over the age of 65, unable to work or unable to find a job, by 200 percent to 300 percent.

Emphasizing that the point Türkiye has reached in the last 20 years in the field of disability is a forward-looking roadmap, Yanık said: "Our biggest goal is for persons with disabilities to lead their own lives as independently as possible. We are doing our best so that they can live a life where they can exist effectively in all areas of social life as free and independent individuals, and we will continue to do so.”

“We present a strong vision with our National Action Plan”

Reminding that the first National Action Plan on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which is the implementation tool of the 2030 Barrier-Free Vision Document between 2023 and 2025, was shared with the public on December 2, 2022, Minister Yanık said: “With our National Action Plan, we present a strong vision that envisages strong coordination in all areas, multilateral cooperation and the participation of civil society organizations representing persons with disabilities. Within the scope of 107 action fields for 31 goals, we will implement 275 separate activities to be carried out in 2023-2025.”

Yanık said: "You are one of the important stakeholders of our Civil Society Vision Document and Action Plan." and continued as follows:

“Your views, suggestions and requests are very important to us in all our efforts to strengthen cooperation with civil society. I would like to express that we will carry out all our works with a multilateral, common mind and determination, and a holistic perspective. Today, we are completing our academy series with this meeting we will hold in the field of disability. Thus, we met with our valuable academicians under the headings of women, children, families, older persons and persons with disabilities. Our Ministry will continue to meet with all parties of civil society within the scope of the Civil Society Vision Document and Action Plan. At the end of each year, we will add strength to our work by sharing our monitoring and evaluation report with you and receiving your feedback to strengthen our cooperation.”