Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş met with media representatives in Ankara. Göktaş gave comprehensive information about efforts to protect children and families. Göktaş said, “We are creating a digital shield with all the work we do. The digital world is an uncontrolled area, while the driving license and voting age is 18, the age to enter social media is 6… In the past, the danger was on the streets, now the real danger is in our rooms at home. We must declare social mobilization to protect children in the digital world.” Göktaş said, “The family is our strongest castle, strengthening the household strengthens the society.” gave the message.

ATTACK AT THE SCHOOL IN KAHRAMANMARAŞ

Recent tragic events have shown that we need to be more vigilant than ever against all kinds of risks surrounding our children. We have created a 6-month action plan for now in the context of Psychosocial Support. As part of the process, we were on the field with 258 personnel.

We visited 6 thousand 75 households around the school and contacted 3 thousand 160 families directly. We assigned personnel who are experts in the field of grief counseling to the citizens affected by the incident. We assigned personnel specialized in grief counseling to our children and their families who were discharged from the hospital. In this process, we established a support reinforcement team and a neighborhood-based special team.

We are closely monitoring our 72 children who lost their parents in the earthquake and were affected by the latest incident. We are also carrying out a special study for these children. We established a Psychosocial Support (PSD) Meeting Office in the area where the school is located, within the Haydarbey Neighborhood Headman’s Office. In order to prevent such cases early, we started our field studies in 81 provinces simultaneously regarding our Social Risk map of Child Driving to Crime. We provided online training to 14 thousand 834 professionals within the scope of Social Risk Maps and Children Safe System. We strengthen our protective and preventive activities by scanning the field with all personnel.

SOCIAL MEDIA REGULATION FOR UNDER 15 YEARS OF AGE

It is very important that we regulate social media as a preventive measure. With this social service law, we created a digital shield for families. This is the first time in the history of the Ministry that such a comprehensive package has been issued, and for the first time we have an omnibus bill. At the same time, there is a very serious step towards protecting children. On the other hand, we are working to prevent similar incidents from occurring by expanding preventive measures and strengthening inter-institutional cooperation with our social risk maps. The will of the state is to support women, families and strengthen the family. To raise awareness about this issue not only in the family but also in the whole society.

WHILE THE AGE OF DRIVING LICENSE AND VOTING IS 18, THE AGE TO ENTER SOCIAL MEDIA IS 6

The digital world is an uncontrolled area, while the driving license and voting age is 18, the age to enter social media is 6…

In the past, the danger was on the streets, but now the real danger is in our rooms at home. When children sit quietly in their rooms, families think there is no problem. Now everyone has a phone, and families should set an example for children in this regard. We must declare social mobilization to protect children in the digital world. We cannot leave our children in the middle of a dark corridor.

DIGITAL FOOTPRINT CAN SERIOUSLY HARM CHILDREN

An action that children see as a simple and innocent game can have consequences that can negatively affect their lives later in life. Once they become criminally responsible, they may face serious penalties. Because social media and digital channels do not forget the digital footprint, they do not forget the visuals, they do not forget the pictures, they record them.”

The rapid development of digital technologies and the start of internet use at a very early age pose serious risks as well as opportunities. Harmful content, cyberbullying, inappropriate content in online games. Social media harms the mental, physical and psychological development of our children.

“Digitalization is one of the 5 main themes of our 2024-2028 Family Protection and Strengthening Vision Document and Action Plan. Digitalization is an integral part of our lives.

Our Action Plan for the Empowerment of Children in the Digital World. Many countries in the world have put this issue on the agenda. Australia has banned social media access for children under 16. We worked on a model specific to our country for about 1.5 years. It was also accepted in the General Assembly of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Our goal is to provide safer digital spaces for our children under the age of 15. In this context, we have imposed certain obligations on social network providers and game platforms. Will take necessary precautions, including age verification. Social networking providers and gaming platforms will offer parental control tools. Mechanisms that will enable them to respond effectively and quickly to complaints and applications, measures to prevent deceptive advertisements, a legal regulation that increases the responsibilities of digital platforms and protects our children from risks.

In Law No. 5651, game, game distributor, game developer and game platform will be defined. Game platforms will offer games by rating them in accordance with age criteria. Gaming platforms with more than 100 thousand daily access will have representatives in Türkiye. We also make regulations regarding VPN. We do not have a prohibitive attitude towards the gaming world. We act with an understanding that guides and supervises, not prohibits. Our main expectation is to have an institutional contact person to whom we can convey our demands. The sole purpose of our approach to games is to ensure the safety of our children. Our goal is not to ban technology; healthy use for our children, a national awareness and support ground that strengthens the guidance of families.

INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM THE RISKS OF THE DIGITAL WORLD

-The Digital Addiction and Family Workshop and the Children in the Digital World Workshops that we organized in 2024 formed the basis of our current global vision. Children, families and experts attended the workshops. We obtained striking data:
-The majority of our children spend 3 to 5 hours a day on digital media.
-The fun and competitive nature of games is the main factor that determines children’s playing time.
-Children’s focusing time is 8 seconds on average.
-The biggest danger is the removal of the age barrier. A 12-year-old child found himself with a 55-year-old adult at the beginning of the game.
-Children especially choose “stronger, darker and weapon-using” characters in games.
-While violent characters create the illusion of self-confidence in children, the anxiety of being watched pushes them towards social isolation.
-Vision and posture disorders, obesity, in front of the screen
-Excessive screen time causes brain decay, mental fog,
-Children see their success in games as superior to their success in real life.
-Parents say, we were not born into the digital world, we need digital literacy education.
-The biggest complaint of parents is communicating with each other by phone within the same house.
-Parents state that their children take social media influencers as more role models than themselves.
-With the results we obtained, we saw that it is not possible for a country to combat the lack of control in the digital world alone.
-We took the initiative we started to protect our children to a global dimension.

Türkiye IS A LEADER IN THESE ISSUES

-We discussed all measures, including our social media regulation, on an international cooperation basis. High-level participation from 21 countries, 13 of which were Minister level, with the honor of Mrs. Emine Erdoğan. Children were also included in the process at the meeting.
It has been a very important ground for increasing international awareness. A critical opportunity to advance multi-stakeholder cooperation,
-We published the joint final declaration in cooperation with our Ministry, UNICEF and the Special Representative of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General on Violence Against Children. Using the age limit as a tool to protect children in the digital world has been evaluated by various countries around the world. The common will to ensure the safety of children on online platforms was emphasized. The need to determine stronger rights-based legal frameworks, to require digital service providers to take measures that can increase security, to strengthen integrated child protection systems that will support families, schools and child protection services, to carry out expanded digital literacy and awareness-raising activities, and to include children in the process as a part of the solution was emphasized.

Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz attended the “Serbian National Day and Armed Forces Day Reception” held in a hotel.

“A COUNTRY OF KEY IMPORTANCE”

Stating that bilateral relations, built on the common history and deep-rooted cultural ties between the two countries, continue to strengthen on the basis of mutual trust and respect, Yılmaz said:

“We see Serbia as a country of key importance for the stability of the Balkans, we believe that Turkey-Serbian relations will produce positive results in the entire Balkans, and we express on various occasions the importance we attach to the development of our bilateral relations in all areas. The visit of Serbian President Mr. Vucic to our country on February 12, 2026 was an important step that strengthened the relations between our countries. In this regard, Antalya Diplomacy “During my meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr. Macut, whom I had the opportunity to host within the scope of the forum, we discussed the joint work that can be done to further strengthen our bilateral relations. We agreed with the Prime Minister to extend our cooperation to academic and scientific fields and to organize an event that will bring together experts from the two countries.”

“THERE WILL BE STRONG PARTICIPATION FROM OUR COUNTRY IN EXPO 2027”

Yılmaz stated that they have left behind an extremely productive and meaningful year in terms of Türkiye-Serbia relations, strengthened by high-level contacts, and said:

“We are following with interest your preparations for Expo 2027, which will be hosted by Serbia next year. There will be a strong participation from our country in the fair, which will provide opportunities for the strengthening of our bilateral commercial and cultural relations. Our economic and commercial relations constitute the locomotive of our bilateral cooperation. We are taking firm steps to increase our trade volume, which reached 3.4 billion dollars in 2025, to 5 billion dollars, which is our common goal set by our Presidents. Our contracting companies “We are pleased that they have reached a business volume of 2 billion dollars in Serbia, and we reiterate our belief that we will increase this even further together.”

In the statement made by the Ministry of Health, it was stated that there were claims in some media and social media platforms that “hospitals are being sold” regarding the real estate list published in the Official Gazette.

It was stated in the statement that the allegations in question do not reflect the truth, and that the decision in question was aimed at the re-evaluation of immovable properties that were not actually used or had lost their function.

“THERE IS NO SELLING OF ANY PUBLIC HOSPITAL THAT PROVIDES HEALTH SERVICES”

In the statement, it was underlined that the real estate belonging to the institutions that are on the list and provide health services will be protected, and the following was noted:

“Only the idle parts of these immovable properties will be allocated and evaluated. As a matter of fact, the process is ongoing, and within the scope of final planning, it may be considered to continue the partial use of some immovable properties and exclude others from the scope. It is not possible to sell any public hospitals that provide health services. In the last 23 years, 27 city hospitals, 21 training and research hospitals, 760 state hospitals, 449 additional buildings, 128 oral and dental health centers and 151 thousand qualified bed capacity. “A strong vision that adds service and transforms the health infrastructure cannot have an approach such as disposing of an active health facility.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the 6th OECD Skills Summit (OECD 2026 Skills Summit) organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) at the Haliç Congress Center.

THE MEMORIES ARE BEING BREAKING IN EMPLOYMENT

Erdoğan said the following in his speech here:

Dear Secretary General, esteemed ministers, esteemed representatives of international organizations, esteemed guests; I greet you with my most heartfelt feelings, respect and affection. I am very pleased to host you in Istanbul, the meeting point of the continents, on the occasion of the OECD 2026 Skills Summit. It is a matter of pride to host you in Istanbul, which is our country’s gateway to the world, and to host such an important summit. On behalf of myself, my country and my nation, I would like to express my gratitude to all the guests from home and abroad who attended the summit. I believe that you will have the opportunity to see the beauties, historical and cultural riches of our Istanbul whenever you get the opportunity from this important meeting. I would like to underline one point right at the beginning of my speech. As you follow, our world is going through a sharp transformation process led by technology and artificial intelligence. Of course, our academics calculate in a multidimensional way what this change has gained and lost for humanity. But we can all see this very clearly: It is not possible to stop this wave of change, which drags everything in its path, or to set a barrier against change. But it is in our hands to read the change correctly, direct it correctly and manage it in a healthy way. Moreover, this is one of the primary duties of us decision makers. I think that this summit, which is the manifestation of the close cooperation between our Ministry of Labor and Social Security and the OECD, will create a strong basis for global dialogue in the field of skills. We are in a period when developing common solutions to humanity’s common challenges is more critical than ever before. We are witnessing that the rules are being disrupted, especially in the field of employment. In parallel with the developments in technology, production methods are changing and professions are transforming; While some jobs become obsolete, new job areas emerge. It is understood that the factor that will determine the success of countries in the current period will be the quality of human capital. In this respect, I find it very accurate that the main theme of the summit is to reveal intergenerational talent. I wish the Skills Summit to be successful and hope that the evaluations to be made in the different sessions will be beneficial in advance.

President Erdoğan: The world is going through a sharp transformation

THE “DARK FACTORY” ERA BEGINS

Dear guests, international research shows that the working age population is shrinking in most countries. As our population ages, our labor markets are exposed to new pressures and new challenges. Digital and green transformation is also radically changing the nature of skill demand. While labor demand inevitably decreases in some sectors, it is difficult to find personnel to work in new employment areas. All economies, including our country, experience this at different levels. In particular, the widespread use of robotic technologies and artificial intelligence brings with it various concerns along with new opportunities. Look, this is extremely striking: It is predicted that the global robot market will turn from its current level of 100 billion dollars into a 25 trillion dollar market by 2050. In some countries, fully automated production facilities, called “dark factories”, are rapidly becoming widespread. How to manage this new order, which is implemented by robots instructed by artificial intelligence and therefore has no human element at almost any stage of the production processes, remains a great mystery before us. While the Industry 4.0 process offers cheaper, faster and error-free production on the one hand, it also causes serious problems. Just looking at the dark factory reality is more than enough to see that labor markets are facing a wave of change similar to the industrial revolution. I believe that the three topics to be discussed at the Skills Summit will bring different horizons to all of us, especially our business community.

AN AGING WORLD CREATES NEW RISKS

Undoubtedly, education is the priority issue in this process, as in every field. We are all aware that information is one of the greatest sources of power for a country, a company or an individual. However, information that is out of date or does not translate into practice is a burden for its owner. Processing, using, transforming and adapting information to new situations is as important as having information. In other words, all stakeholders of education, including its content, tools, practitioner and recipient, need to keep up with the pace of change of our age. Here, I would like to draw attention to this striking fact: According to the evaluations made by the OECD, in many countries there is a decline in the basic skills of students, the teacher workforce is aging, and there is a need to reshape the education systems. We no longer live in an era where learning starts at school and ends with a diploma. On the contrary, today learning refers to a dynamic process that spreads throughout life.

Another thing to consider is this: In 2030, one fifth of the world’s population will be people aged 60 and over. It is estimated that this rate will reach one quarter in 2050. Therefore, people will stay in business longer each year than in the past. When we add to this excessive individualization, the disintegration of the traditional family structure, and the increasing acceptance of selfishness embodied in the saying “every man does his own thing”, we face a serious problem. Thank God, our country is in a very good place in this regard compared to many countries in the world. The fact that our family ties are still alive and the culture of cooperation and solidarity is still strong provides us with a significant advantage. Despite this, on the one hand, we strengthen the family institution, which is the basis of society, with various projects, and on the other hand, we take care not to leave anyone out with the world’s most comprehensive social security system.

INEQUALITY IS AN OBSTACLE TO DEVELOPMENT

Dear friends, one of the issues we care about is the education of adults. It is critical for all of us that adults update their skills, gain competence in new areas, and adapt to change. Flexible education models, career guidance mechanisms and effective partnerships with employers will be decisive in labor markets. More clearly, lifelong learning will determine not only the careers of individuals but also the competitiveness of countries.

Revealing hidden talents is both an economic need and a moral responsibility today. Today, in many countries, groups such as women, immigrants and disadvantaged students cannot fully use their potential. We cannot see the consequences of this situation only as an economic loss. No country that leaves a significant portion of its human capital idle can undertake a truly strong development move. It is impossible to talk about the existence of a fair order in countries that cannot provide the opportunity to realize their potential due to various reasons, especially discrimination and inequality. As Türkiye, we have achieved success in this field that was unimaginable 20-25 years ago, by commissioning unique projects especially for women. We increased the female workforce participation rate, which was 27.9 percent when we took office, to 34.7 percent. In the same period, female employment in our country increased from 25.3 percent to 31.7 percent. We have eliminated all kinds of barriers that keep women away from social life, economic life and especially education. As a result, the rate of female public employees increased from 34.2 percent to 43.38 percent in just the last 12 years.

NEW SUPPORT PROGRAM FOR YOUTH

Last week, we offered another very important convenience to women with a law passed in our parliament. With the new regulations, we increased the maternity leave duration of all working mothers to 24 weeks. Likewise, we have mobilized all our resources for the education and employment of our young people. Since we took office, we have allocated the lion’s share of the budget to education every year. We have made vocational education, which was pushed to the agenda in the days when democracy was suspended, a center of attraction again. In this process, we prepare our young people for the professions of the future with various programs and increase the connection of our educational institutions with the business world. “Youth’s Production Age Power Program”, which we shared with the public on January 6, is one of them. With this program, we will offer new supports to our youth and employers in many areas, from internship opportunities to skill acquisition, from vocational guidance to wage supports. Our goal is to employ 3 million young people in the next three years. We will have adapted the master-apprentice relationship, which has shaped our working lives for centuries, to today’s conditions. Dear guests, our government approaches the topics to be discussed at the summit with a strong political will and a long-term perspective. In line with our human-centered development approach, we continue our reforms in every field, from education to employment, from labor policies to social protection. In an increasingly digital world, known working models are undergoing a radical change. While this process creates new job opportunities, it also increases the risk of employment shifting to unregistered areas. But thanks to the measures we have taken, we have achieved significant success in the fight against unregistered employment in the last 23 years. We managed to reduce the unregistered employment rate, which was over 52 percent in the early 2000s, to 24 percent by 2025. Moreover, we achieved this success in a conjuncture where informality is increasing at the global level; We signed at a time when we achieved the best results of the last 23 years in terms of unemployment and employment rates.

HISTORICAL DECLINE IN UNREGISTERED EMPLOYMENT

I would like to express this clearly once again: At the center of our Türkiye Century vision are qualified human resources, strong family structure, productive economy and inclusive social development. However, skills policies are not an area that state institutions can carry out alone. This issue; It requires strong cooperation between the public, private sector, universities, unions, local governments and civil society. Therefore, I hope that the evaluations to be made at the summit will not only be limited to identifying problems, but will also lead to the development of bold, applicable and people-centered solutions. I believe that the analytical capacity of the OECD and the basis for dialogue it establishes between countries are a very important opportunity at this point. We see that the OECD Istanbul Center plays an important role in the current environment where global geopolitical and economic dynamics are transforming, and we are also pleased about this. With these thoughts, I hope that the OECD 2026 Skills Summit will be beneficial for our countries and all humanity. I wholeheartedly congratulate our Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the esteemed Minister and his team, and all the employees of the OECD in the presence of Secretary General Cormann, who contributed to the organization of the summit. I thank you for your participation and I respectfully greet you all once again. Stay well.

40 COUNTRIES PARTICIPATED AT THE MINISTER LEVEL

While 64 countries and international organizations were invited to the summit organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development at the Haliç Congress Center in Istanbul, approximately 40 countries were represented at the minister and deputy minister level. At the summit, the effects of technological transformation, especially informatics and artificial intelligence, on labor markets, the skills of the future and the adaptation of education systems to this change were discussed. Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan and OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann also made speeches in the program. Following the speeches, a special rosary from the “Drop Amber” collection embroidered with Ottoman motifs was presented to President Erdoğan by Minister of Labor and Social Security Işıkhan. The program ended with a family photo.

According to the statement made by the Ministry; Under the coordination of the Gendarmerie General Command’s Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime and Cybercrime Departments and the Artvin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, operations were carried out against the organized crime group in Artvin, Istanbul, Izmir and Erzurum by the Artvin Provincial Gendarmerie Command. In the operations carried out; 35 suspects were caught, who were found to have made unfair profits by defrauding citizens through websites, demanding money from citizens by calling them by phone by introducing themselves as lawyers, and threatening citizens who did not pay. 28 of the suspects were arrested, and judicial control provisions were applied to 7 of them. As a result of the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) investigations, account activity of 510 million TL was detected in the suspects’ accounts. An injunction was imposed on 2 immovable properties, 5 movable assets worth 75 million TL and 333 bank accounts belonging to the suspects. As a result of the operations, a large number of digital materials and documents were seized.

In his post on his NSosyal account, Minister Çiftçi stated that the April 27 “e-memorandum” is in their memories as one of the last dark attempts of the tutelage mind trying to align the will of the nation.

Reminding that once upon a time, politics in Türkiye was intended to be guided by e-memorandums, Çiftçi said:

“WE DID NOT SUBMIT TO GUARDIAN”

“The will of the nation was tried to be suppressed through tutelage. Türkiye’s direction was wanted to be determined by dark circles instead of the ballot box. However, our dear nation did not consent to this imposition. The elected will did not step back. Democracy, law and national will were protected. Today, we have reached a strong Türkiye that talks about the vision of the Turkish Century, determines its own goals, and has a say in its region and the world, from a Türkiye that wanted to be pulled into line with e-memorandums. “This great march was made possible by the will of our nation and its unwavering commitment to democracy, under the leadership of our esteemed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. We did not forget April 27, we did not bow to tutelage, and we are building the Turkey Century with determination.”