Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Numan Kurtulmuş, met with the Speaker of the Slovenian National Assembly, Urska Klakocar Zupancic, in her office in the Parliament. After the meeting, which was closed to the press, Kurtulmuş and Zupancic held a joint press conference. Numan Kurtulmuş stated that he was pleased to host Zupancic and his delegation at the Turkish Grand National Assembly and that the official visits between the countries strengthened the relations. Stating that Turkey and Slovenia have a common network of relations on the basis of NATO membership, Kurtulmuş said, “In addition, Slovenia has always supported our country during Türkiye’s European Union (EU) membership process and has tried to support decisions and initiatives related to paving the way for our country in this regard. Unfortunately, one of the important characteristics of Slovenia is that it is one of the countries in the world that does not remain silent in the face of the genocide carried out by Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu, which has been going on for a long time and where more than 75 thousand people were unjustly taken from their lives and killed with great cruelty.” “Slovenia is one of the important countries in Europe that has been on the right side of history and on the humanitarian front, especially with its support for the Palestinian cause, its support for the innocent people of Palestine who were subjected to genocide, and its extraordinary support in the process of official recognition of the State of Palestine last year,” he said.

‘IT IS POSSIBLE FOR OUR BILATERAL TRADE VOLUME TO INCREASE TO THE LEVEL OF 5 BILLION DOLLARS’

Stating that there are close relations between Turkey and Slovenia, Numan Kurtulmuş said, “These relations continue to increase. We continue our relations in many commercial fields, including transportation, energy, tourism and defense industry. In this context, we currently have a bilateral trade volume of 3.7 billion dollars. It is possible that this can be increased to 5 billion dollars in the coming period. In addition, we share a common geography with Slovenia. Slovenia is in the westernmost part of the Balkans, while we are in the easternmost part of the Balkans. The two countries “As an Eastern European country, Slovenia closely follows all developments in Eastern Europe and, as a country affected by these, strives and struggles to ensure peace, stability and security in Europe. As Turkey, our basic perspective regarding all the problems we experience in our region and on a global scale is peace, stability and dialogue,” he said.

‘GENOCIDE AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF GAZA SHOULD NOT BE FORGOTTEN’

Emphasizing that the capacity of the international system to solve the events is problematic, Kurtulmuş said, “It is an inevitable duty for the countries with this perspective to work together to establish a new world system that is rule-based and where all countries are considered equal in sovereignty. In this sense, we believe that the Palestine issue is both a vital issue that must be resolved before humanity and a guiding human guide for the future development of humanity. Peace will never come to the Middle East without ensuring equity and justice in Palestine and without accepting a two-state solution including the State of Palestine. Middle East.” “I would like to underline again that we should never allow Netanyahu and his gang to forget the genocide they are carrying out against the people of Gaza,” he said.

‘IT IS CONTRARY TO THE CONSTITUTION AND DEMOCRATIC CONDITIONS’

Then Numan Kurtulmuş answered the journalists’ questions. Regarding the actions of CHP deputies before the oath ceremony of the Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek and the Minister of Internal Affairs Mustafa Çiftçi at the General Assembly of the Turkish Grand National Assembly yesterday, Kurtulmuş said, “First of all, I would like to express this; yesterday’s oath ceremony was held in accordance with the mandatory provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey and the Internal Regulations of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, in this context, it is a legal obligation. The process was completed with the oath of the ministers. Therefore, trying to prevent the fulfillment of this action arising from the constitution, especially by occupying the rostrum. Trying to prevent the minister who is about to be sworn in by certain methods, such as not having him take the oath, is never, ever possible. In democracy, you can make loud criticisms and voice your opinions. In this sense, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey has the opportunity for everyone to express their opinions, but you can never say, ‘I will forcefully intervene in an issue that does not comply with my opinion and I will not do it.’ This is against the constitution and democratic practices and is never acceptable. I think this behavior is extremely unfair, inappropriate and against Turkey’s democracy. “You may not like it. It is clear how ministers will be appointed in the Republic of Türkiye. Our nation made its decision at the ballot box and gave the President the authority to govern our nation within a certain period of time,” he said.

‘WHEN THE REPORT IS COMPLETED, THE WHOLE PROCESS WILL BE COMPLETED’

Regarding the draft report prepared by the National Solidarity, Fraternity and Democracy Commission, which was established within the scope of the ‘Terror-Free Turkey’ target, Kurtulmuş said, “The process is going as planned. In this sense, the final version of the report will be sent to the representatives of all parties in the commission and, of course, the report will be discussed by gathering 50 of our friends in this hall. The report will be completed with the vote and this process will be completely concluded.”

‘A CONSTITUTIONAL REGULATION IS A MUST’

Numan Kurtulmuş also spoke as follows regarding the question about Eskişehir Mihalgazi Mayor Zeynep Güneş Akgün, who was targeted because of her clothes:

“This is a very stale discussion. We know what a huge price we have paid due to the headscarf bans in our country in the past years. In fact, some people have actually implemented various bans, completely at their own personal discretion, by putting themselves in the place of the state, the law, the constitution, and even the Constitutional Court (AYM), depriving the young children of this country from university gates and public officials from public service. Thank God, all of this is behind us, but it seems that this spider head that bans people’s clothes has still not completely disappeared. This spider head has come back from time to time. I am deeply saddened to see this, but after all, we are talking about Türkiye. We are talking about an issue for which a great price has been paid in the recent past. Is it possible to insult a mayor who was elected by the vote of the people? Should he ask you what clothes he will wear? Therefore, this is extremely wrong. However, as I said, the area of individual freedoms in Türkiye should not be revived again. “A constitutional regulation is essential to ensure full security, especially in terms of clothing. For this, all political parties will fulfill their responsibilities and work will be carried out in the future to make a new, civil, democratic, participatory and inclusive constitution.”

ZUPANCİC: SLOVENIA APPROVALS Türkiye’S ROLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Slovenian National Assembly Speaker Urska Klakocar Zupancic stated that the relations between the two countries are close and the trade volume should increase. Zupancic said, “Slovenia appreciates Türkiye’s role in establishing peace and ensuring security, especially in the Middle East. At the same time, the role of the UN, the USA and Türkiye, especially in providing development aid to Ukraine, is important. Slovenia also noted Türkiye’s role in Syria and the peace talks between the two countries would not be possible without the intermediary efforts between Ukraine and Russia. Slovenia also shares Türkiye’s attitude in the peace processes in the Middle East.”

Acting with these principles, we will announce our strong and well-structured action agenda to the world in March. We will hear, make heard and encourage everyone’s voice with an impartial, fair presidency, without leaving anyone behind. Going backwards in global climate action is unacceptable. We will explain to everyone in the clearest terms that the implementation flexibility and tolerance for the transition process, which are equally granted to all countries, are now at zero point. This approach not only provides a technical negotiation framework; “It represents an understanding of responsibility that reminds us of humanity’s ancient relationship with nature and is nourished by the common memory of civilizations,” he said.

‘GOBEKLITEPE IS THE PLACE WHERE HUMANITY MEETS AROUND A COMMON MEANING’

Minister Kurum said, “One of our starting points is Göbeklitepe, which is considered the zero point of human history. Because Göbeklitepe is the place where humanity came together for the first time and gathered around a common meaning. In this respect, we define COP31 as the ‘COP of the Future’, where humanity comes together again. Yes, Dialogue is the starting point of the COP31 process. In this context, COP31 is where governments, private sector, cities, young people and civil society are listened to in a meaningful way, where different people come together.” Consensus will be the second phase to be built on the basis of this dialogue. COP31 will focus on realistic commitments that balance between assertion and applicability, equity and responsibility. Action is the ultimate goal of this process. With these three principles, COP31 will prioritize concrete practices that bring commitments to the field. “We will demonstrate this stance at all stages of the process, with a presidency approach that will move beyond a predominant negotiation process; that is trust-generating, result-oriented and prioritizes implementation work in real sectors.”

‘STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP MESSAGES WILL BE GIVEN ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE SUMMIT’

Minister Kurum said, “We will hold the summit within the framework of a 2-day program in Antalya, under the auspices and hosting of our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. On the first day of the summit, high-level general sessions and strategic leadership messages will be given with the participation of heads of state and government. On the second day, partnerships will be developed with practice-oriented round table meetings. Our President’s leadership represents the understanding of diplomacy that is rooted in Türkiye’s foreign policy; able to talk, listen, establish balance and focus on producing results. This “This approach will play a strong political role in climate diplomacy, bringing the parties together around the same table, building trust and making reconciliation possible,” he said.

In the joint press conference he held with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reminded that he and Vucic last held the 4th High Level Cooperation Council Meeting in Belgrade on October 11, 2024.

Stating that there have been important developments in both bilateral relations and regional and global issues during the intervening period, Erdoğan said that they evaluated the effects of these developments on Turkey-Serbia relations with Vucic and discussed the steps to be taken for the future.

Erdoğan stated that they discussed what they could do to maintain stability and strengthen economic development in the Balkans.

Emphasizing that the ever-increasing trade and investments with Serbia are the locomotive of relations, Erdoğan said:

“The total trade volume reached 3.5 billion dollars last year. We are approaching our goal of 5 billion dollars step by step. We have previously announced that we will participate in Expo 2027, which will be held in Belgrade, hosted by Serbia. We believe that this important event will serve as an additional opportunity to develop economic, commercial and cultural relations between our countries.

We are pleased with the interest our investors show in Serbia. “While around 100 companies with Turkish capital were operating in Serbia in 2015, today this number has exceeded 1500 and the total investment amount has reached 300 million dollars.”

“WE EVALUATED THE ISSUE OF INCREASING FLIGHTS”

Stating that contractors support the production of housing, roads and infrastructure in Serbia with more than 100 projects they have undertaken, Erdoğan said that Serbian President Vucic’s development strategy based on infrastructure investments and growth had an impact on them reaching this point.

Erdoğan said, “I would like to express once again that we also expect investors from Serbia to come to Türkiye.” he said.

Expressing that human relations constitute an important dimension of their relations, Erdoğan pointed out that the best manifestation of people’s desire to know each other more closely is the increasing number of mutual tourists.

Erdoğan said, “Today, Turkey is the second tourism route for Serbian tourists. Our citizens also rank first among the tourists visiting Serbia. Today, we evaluated the issue of increasing flights between Turkey and Serbia in order to further increase and facilitate these visits.” he said.

Stating that they see great interest in Turkish language learning in Serbia, Erdoğan underlined that they are working to ensure that this interest is adequately met by institutions such as Yunus Emre Institute and Turkish Maarif Foundation.

“THE ATTITUDE HERE WAS COMPLETELY TOWARDS BLAMING THE FAMILY”

Answering the question about allegations of abuse and violence in a children’s activity center affiliated with Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), Göktaş reminded that AK Party municipalities have been providing many social services to citizens such as nurseries, nursing homes and elderly care centers for many years.

Minister Göktaş continued as follows:

“I would especially like to express my satisfaction with the local governments providing social services to our citizens. Of course, the issue that draws our attention here is that it is opened under the name of a nursery, but it is actually a children’s activity center, but when they announce it to the public, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality refers to it as a nursery. There is an ambivalent approach here. First of all, if it were to be opened under the name of a nursery, it would have to be obtained through a permit process from the Ministry of Family or the Ministry of National Education and kept under the control mechanism, as many municipalities do. But here, it is especially called such a children’s activity center to be kept out of control. “Ultimately, our aim is to ensure that our children grow up in safe environments, to ensure that they are raised under certain standards, to provide support by staff with sufficient pedagogical formation, to have a sufficient number of children in class-oriented ratios, to have the necessary hygiene arrangements, and to ensure adequate security. These are very important for us.”

Stating that they visited the family after the incident, Göktaş continued his words as follows:

“They claimed that a 3-year-old child was subjected to abuse in the IMM nursery, and they say that they were left alone in this process. And when I listened to the family, I saw that unfortunately they did not receive enough support. The family specifically said, ‘We thought that this nursery was under the supervision of the Ministry.’ In fact, this case was not forwarded to us by IMM. If it was a nursery under the control of the Ministry or licensed by the Ministry, in such a case, it is obliged to first inform the relevant institutions. This is how private nurseries work. This is how our municipal nurseries work. However, since this is an unlicensed and uncontrolled system, IMM claims that they have created a control mechanism entirely within themselves.

We actually state that they should do this entirely within the framework of the law. After obtaining the necessary permissions from both the Ministry of National Education and us, we really care about preventing similar processes from happening again. As a matter of fact, we saw that this case was not isolated. We have seen that there are other similar cases. We wanted to address this issue especially from a post-political perspective. But unfortunately, we see that the attitude here is entirely aimed at blaming the family. Ultimately, there is a family and a child who are victims here. If they had been there for them in the first place, especially the authorities, this process would not have happened this way. “They acted here in a completely defensive position and continued their attacks on us.”

Minister Göktaş explained the work they carried out within the scope of the 2025 Family Year and stated that the 2026-2035 period was declared “10 Years of Family and Population” by President Erdoğan and that they will continue their work focusing on the family in this context.

Regarding the relevant question regarding the Family and Youth Fund, Göktaş stated that the number of applications was 199 thousand 879, 76 thousand 736 couples were married, they paid 9 billion 386 million lira in resources and provided discounts to 2 thousand 46 companies throughout Turkey.

Asked about the Income Supplementary Family Support System, Göktaş noted that they have been working on the model for a long time with 14 different institutions and said, “We have actually reached the final stage of this study. We conducted simulation studies last year. We will provide support to bring the household’s income to a certain income level by including the characteristics of the members living in the household. This year, we started our pilot studies. Next year, hopefully, we will have implemented a 2.0 new generation social support system that we will spread throughout Türkiye.” he said.

Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek met with the delegation led by Slovenian National Assembly Speaker Klakocar Zupancic at the Ministry. Speaking here, Gürlek stated that they are in constructive cooperation with Slovenia in political, economic and cultural fields, and said that the friendly ties between Türkiye and Slovenia are increasing day by day.

“IMPORTANT AND COMPLEMENTARY DIMENSION”

Stating that cooperation in the field of justice constitutes an important and complementary dimension in the relations between the two countries, Gürlek emphasized that they attach great importance to the development of cooperation within the framework of the rule of law, mutual experience sharing in the field of judiciary, judicial assistance and international agreements.

Describing some reforms made in the legal system recently, Gürlek said, “Under the leadership of our President, we made very important reforms in the field of judiciary by announcing the 4th Judicial Reform Strategy Document between 2025 and 2029. In this context, we presented the 11th Judicial Package to the Parliament in December 2025, and our work on the 12th Judicial Package continues. At the same time, in order to strengthen criminal justice and make the execution and trial processes more effective, the Turkish Penal Code and “We are also considering making some changes in the execution system.” he said.

“WE STAND BY THE JUSTIFIED STRUGGLE”

Gürlek continued as follows: “In this context, we find it very valuable that our country recognized the State of Palestine as a result of the vote held in the General Assembly of the Slovenian National Assembly. In particular, our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has expressed his satisfaction with Slovenia’s decision to recognize the State of Palestine in every environment. As Turkey, we continue to defend human dignity, peace and justice under all circumstances. We always continue the rightful struggle of the Palestinian people and stand by the Palestinians. The friendship and justice between the two countries “I reiterate that we desire to improve cooperation in the field of justice every day. We consent to all kinds of agreements and development of our relations regarding cooperation in the judicial field.” Gürlek expressed his gratitude to Klakocar Zupancic for his visit.

The ‘Ottoman Turkish Competition Final in Pursuit of Cultural Heritage’ program, which brought together Science and Anatolian High Schools across Turkey, organized by Genç Hayrat in cooperation with the Hayrat Foundation and the Ministry of National Education, at the Presidential Ottoman Archives Complex in Kağıthane, was held with the participation of Bilal Erdoğan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Science Dissemination Society.

15 THOUSAND STUDENTS FROM 505 SCHOOLS PARTICIPATED

Governor of Istanbul Davut Gül, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Knowledge Dissemination Foundation Necmeddin Bilal Erdoğan, Deputy Minister of National Education Ömer Faruk Yelkenci, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Enes Eminoğlu, Kağıthane District Governor Yüksel Kara, Kağıthane Mayor Mevlüt Öztekin and Young Hayrat President Kürşat Karaca, students and instructors attended the program. 505 schools determined by the organizing committee among Science and Anatolian high schools in all provinces and districts of Türkiye participated in the competition. 15 thousand students attended the seminars titled ‘Why Should I Learn Ottoman Turkish?’ seminars were given. 7 thousand of these students were given Ottoman language education for 7 weeks. Türkiye and provincial rankings were announced in the exam held online across Türkiye on January 31. The winners were entitled to compete at the Presidential State Archives Ottoman Archive Complex on February 12. Awards were presented to the 10 students who ranked highest in the provinces. After the protocol speeches, Bilal Erdoğan presented a gift and a plaque to Yusuf Kağan Kaymaz, who came third in the Türkiye-wide exam, Ammar Alkurdu, who came second, and Yusuf Aydın, who came first. In commemoration of the day, Young Hayrat President Kürşat Karaca sent a message written in Celi Thuluth to Bilal Erdoğan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Knowledge Dissemination Foundation, ‘Don’t worry, surely Allah is with us!’ He gave as a gift the work written on Surah At-Tawbah 40. The other protocol delegation participating in the program also presented gifts to the students.

‘IT FEEL NATURAL TO US THAT OUR YOUTH LEARN TO READ OTTOMAN LANGUAGE’

Speaking at the program, Bilal Erdoğan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Science Dissemination Society, said, “It really seems natural to our young people to learn how to read Ottoman Turkish or Ottoman Turkish. But more recently, 10, 15 years ago, these were great taboos in Türkiye. If someone said, ‘I cannot read texts written in old letters, I want to read them, let me get an education on this,’ this would pose a problem. Some people immediately objected to this.” They were voicing it, but now it’s normalized. This is our own language, our own texts, our own history. In our country, let alone Arabic, when you learn Arabic and Persian, your vocabulary also becomes stronger. But when you learn Ottoman Turkish, when you develop a little knowledge of the old texts, what happens to the vocabulary? “When a student with a rich vocabulary then tries to learn foreign languages, he learns those languages with a higher vocabulary. Therefore, I think that this study plays a very important role in strengthening the vocabulary and vocabulary of our young people and strengthening their ties with their past.”