Minister Bak made a presentation about the 2027 budget of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the 2025 central government final accounting law at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Planning and Budget Commission.
Bak, who started his speech by commemorating the founder of the Republic, Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, with respect, mercy and gratitude on the 88th anniversary of his passing away, said, "We do not only see our young people as the owners of the future. Today, they are the main actors who have a say in science, technology, art, production and sports and contribute directly to the development of Türkiye. Under the leadership of our President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 'Türkiye "We are building the 21st century with the energy, knowledge, excitement and determination of our young people." he said.
Stating that they carry out training and studies in a wide range of fields, from science to technology, from culture to sports, in youth centers, Bak said:
"We increased the number of youth centers, which were only 9 in 2002, to 589 in 81 provinces, and we have implemented a total of 358 "Youth Offices", 145 of which are in our universities. We are working to ensure that our young people with special needs can access these services on equal terms. We opened our Barrier-Free Youth, Sports and Life Centers in Mersin Mezitli, Balıkesir, Isparta and Malatya. Our University Student Communities Cooperation and Support Program "With (UNIDES), we have transferred more than 437 million 805 thousand liras to 5 thousand 822 projects so far. We have provided 34 million liras of support to 304 projects within the scope of our special call on Environment and Climate for 2026."
Bak stated that while the number of sea and nature themed camps was 5 in 2002, they increased this number to 50, and that they provided practical training in 11 camps in 9 provinces.
Stating that they prepared young people for extraordinary situations with disaster awareness trainings in cooperation with AFAD, Bak said, "As of October 2026, 155 thousand 713 young people attended our youth camps." shared his knowledge.
"ROBOTIC CODING, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, AVIATION AND SPACE TECHNOLOGY TRAININGS"
Emphasizing that the most decisive area of competition between countries in the 21st century is science and technology, Bak continued his words as follows:
"Our national technology move is Türkiye's will to be among the countries that lead, not follow. The greatest assurance of our Turkey Century vision is the knowledge, talents and determination of our young people. Today, 16 thousand 113 young people are receiving education in 105 Deneyap Technology Workshops in 81 provinces, which we have implemented in line with this vision. We offer applied training in 11 different fields, from robotic coding to artificial intelligence, from software to aviation and space technologies, with our 554 active instructors. "To date, we have carried out 3 thousand 679 activities in our workshops in 81 provinces and reached 72 thousand 665 young people."
Stating that the youth center teams participating in TEKNOFEST 2026 from 19 provinces won 23 degrees and 13 special awards, Bak said, "We provided support to 110 projects in the first stage of our program that we implemented together with our Ministry of Industry and Technology. Our total project budget reached 1 billion 575 million 35 thousand 811 lira with co-financing. In this process, where we aimed to create 154 workshops, we allocated 101 projects and "We have provided employment for 10 thousand 575 people. In the second stage of our program, we are implementing 28 new projects. We foresee a total budget of 2 billion 806 million 350 thousand liras for these projects. We aim to provide employment opportunities for 9 thousand 106 more people by successfully completing the second stage." he said.
"WE TOOK OUR PLACE AT THE COP31 CLIMATE CONFERENCE WITH THE IDEAS AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF OUR YOUTH"
Stating that they are working to strengthen the bond established by young people with culture and art, Bak said, "This year, we received 21 thousand 412 applications from 81 provinces. In addition, we continue to introduce the works of our young artists to our nation in our art gallery at the International Youth Center in Istanbul. Our young farmers in our Young Farmer Program have the opportunity to transform their knowledge and experience into production while experiencing agricultural production on site. Within the scope of the Young Energy Program, we work with our university students studying in the field of energy at Akkuyu Nuclear Power in Mersin. "We are visiting the Power Plant and TPAO's energy production sites in Batman and Şırnak Gabar." gave the information.
Explaining that young people support farmers with Volunteer Harvest Activities, Bak said that young people participated in 147 harvest events this year and that they will complete 163 activities by the end of the year.
Bak also shared information about the programs they organize to strengthen young people's historical awareness.
Stating that they have organized more than 1000 activities in 81 provinces with the "Drop Volunteer Movement and AnadoluyuzBİZ" work, Bak said, "We bring together our volunteers and institutions looking for volunteers in our VolunteeryüzBİZ Platform. Currently, the number of volunteers on our platform is 542 thousand 84, and the number of institutions looking for volunteers is 3 thousand 716. We also support volunteering activities in our universities. Last year, we supported a project with a budget of 30 million lira." "We made a call and provided 8 million 185 thousand liras of support to 73 projects. This year, we made our new support call with a budget of 50 million liras." he said.
Noting that they contribute to the fight against addiction efforts, Bak said, "This year, we provided awareness training on combating addiction to 12,048 of our personnel in 81 provinces. 552 formatters we trained in cooperation with the Green Crescent contribute to our work. 342 thousand young people in youth centers, 143 thousand students in our dormitories, and 10 thousand athletes in Athlete Training Centers and Turkey Olympic Preparation Centers participated in our awareness training. For non-governmental organizations and sports clubs. "We made a call for project support of 200 million lira." he said.
Minister Bak stated that they participated in the Zero Waste Movement, which started under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's wife Emine Erdoğan, with their youth and sports services, and said, "We took our place at the COP31 Climate Conference, which started yesterday in Antalya, with the ideas and contributions of our young people. We also recently opened our COP31 Youth House in Antalya, which will serve for a livable world and a clean future, together with our young people."
THE WORLD'S LARGE STUDENT HOUSING MODEL WITH OVER 1 MILLION BED CAPACITY
Stating that the Ministry's dormitories are at the top of the world in terms of capacity, Bak said, "I would like to proudly state that we have the most comprehensive and functional student accommodation model in the world with a bed capacity of more than 1 million. In 2002, services were provided in 190 dormitories in 77 provinces and 59 districts, with a total bed capacity of 182 thousand 258. "Today, we have reached a total capacity of 880 dormitories and 1 million 3 thousand 259 beds in our 81 provinces, 271 districts and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus."
Pointing out that the dormitory placement rate reached 96 percent, Bak said, "We placed 301 thousand 677 of the 313 thousand 926 students who applied to our dormitories in the 2026-2027 academic year. Our placement process continues. "We benefit from the data of 12 public institutions and artificial intelligence algorithm-supported systems in evaluating the applications," he said.
Minister Bak stated that they also provide easy access to dormitory services for students with special needs.
Providing information about scholarships and education loans for university students, Bak continued as follows: "We give 4 thousand lira monthly scholarship or education loan to our undergraduate students, 8 thousand lira to our master's students, and 12 thousand lira to our doctoral students. We provide scholarship and education loan support to 1 million 518 thousand 166 students. We care about our young people using the time they spend outside of classes in our dormitories productively. "We organize trainings and workshops in many fields, from traditional arts to music, from literature to personal development."
Reminding that they open the dormitories to young people free of charge during the summer periods, Bak said, "Travellers continue to be popular. "623 thousand 553 young people have benefited from the program so far," he said.
Emphasizing that the Psychosocial Support Platform provides services to university students and athletes in 81 provinces, Bak said, "As of November 2026, a total of 312 thousand young people registered to the platform have received service from our ministry. Currently, there are 243 thousand active users on the platform and they are still receiving service. In 2026, 48 thousand 397 young people benefited from psychological well-being training in cooperation with the Ministry of Health. "Disaster awareness trainings organized within the scope of AFAD cooperation were delivered to 22 thousand 831 students."
Providing information about the work they carried out in the earthquake zone, Bak said: "In this context, we completed and put into service 11 student dormitories with a capacity of 12 thousand 106 beds and 131 youth and sports facilities with an investment of 8 billion 890 million 282 thousand liras. We also completed 486 maintenance and repair works for our needed facilities at a cost of 3 billion 385 million 157 thousand liras. Our investments in the earthquake zone continue. "We continue the construction of 4 student dormitories with a capacity of 4 thousand beds and 140 youth and sports facilities with an investment of 12 billion 524 million 950 thousand liras. We are carrying out the tender and project works for 15 student dormitories with a capacity of 14 thousand 150 beds and 22 youth and sports facilities with an investment of 22 billion 183 million 600 thousand liras."
