Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan said, "The Unemployment Insurance Fund has nothing to do with the liquidated funds." he said.
Thanking the MPs for their opinions on improving working life, employment and social security, Işıkhan said that they will evaluate the constructive criticisms, drawn visions and ideas for the policies of the Ministry.
In response to a question, Minister Işıkhan stated that the inspection regarding the wages of İmbat Mining workers in Manisa's Soma district is continuing and that they aim to finalize this process as soon as possible.
When asked at what stage the construction of the İŞKUR Provincial Directorate service building in Osmaniye is, Işıkhan stated that the building is included in the investment program and that they aim to complete the building in 2027.
"WE PROVIDED INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR 144 THOUSAND STUDENTS"
Emphasizing that one of the most important ties between the labor market and young people is internship, Işıkhan said, "We provided internship opportunities to 144 thousand students within the scope of the National Internship Program. With the 'Professions of the Future' application within the scope of the POWER Program, we provide one-on-one consultancy services to more than 192 thousand vocational high school and vocational school senior students, supporting their transition from education to working life, and supporting them without falling into the trap of neither education nor employment (NEET)." he said.
Işıkhan said that they support young people's education and career planning with the Advisor Information System (DABİS).
Stating that through DABİS, they compared vocational high school departments, different departments in the same university and the situation of the same department in different universities on indicators such as "graduates' job finding time, employment continuity, wage distribution, entrepreneurship tendencies and sectors in which they work intensively", Işıkhan said: "By integrating DABİS into İŞKUR Mobile and e-Branch applications, we made it accessible to students, graduates, parents and all citizens. With our İŞKUR campuses in universities, we provide university students with access to university students before they graduate." "We support students in creating their career plans by providing job and vocational consultancy services. In our job clubs, we improve students' job search skills, support them in completing and getting to know the labor market and preparing for working life."
"WE BROUGHT 350 THOUSAND YOUTH TOGETHER WITH EMPLOYERS"
Minister Işıkhan stated that they support the employment of young people studying in the field of vocational education in the field they graduated, with the work they carry out in cooperation with the General Directorate of Vocational and Technical Education of the Ministry of National Education, and said, "We pay the daily pocket money of our young people who participate in on-the-job training programs organized in the field they graduated, with a 30 percent increase. We are increasing this rate to 50 percent." He made a statement.
Stating that they brought together approximately 350 thousand young people with employers and relevant stakeholders within the scope of GÜÇ Regional Career Fairs organized in 12 provinces this year in cooperation with İŞKUR and universities, Işıkhan stated that they plan to organize the fairs in 10 more provinces.
"80 PERCENT OF LABOR ADAPTATION PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS ARE WOMEN"
In response to questions about women's employment, Işıkhan said, "According to TÜİK data, in the period of September 2025-2026, women's labor force participation rate increased by 13.9 points, from 21.3 percent to 35.2 percent, and women's employment rate increased by 11.8 points, from 19.4 percent to 31.2 percent. Women's workforce increased from 5.3 million to 12 million, and women's employment increased from 4.8 million." It reached 10.6 million." he replied.
Stating that the female unemployment rate is 11.3 percent as of September 2026, Işıkhan said, "As İŞKUR, we implemented the Job Positive Program in 2024 in order to increase women's employment. To date, we have supported the participation of more than 2.7 million women in registered employment." he said.
Minister Işıkhan pointed out that more than 10 million citizens have benefited from İŞKUR's Active Labor Force and On-the-Job Training programs and said, "In the last two years, 82 percent of those who have benefited from Community Benefit Programs (TYP) and approximately 80 percent of the Labor Force Adaptation Program participants are women. Along with all these, 367.5 million liras have been provided to more than 49 thousand people since 2016 within the scope of the Half-Work Allowance, which supports the return to working life after birth." Payment has been made." he said.
Minister Işıkhan emphasized that, in addition to increasing women's participation in the workforce, they also continue their efforts to strengthen women's qualified, registered and sustainable employment.
"WE IMPOSED A FINE OF 800 MILLION LIRA ON 3 THOUSAND 274 WORKPLACES"
Answering the questions about work accidents and occupational diseases, Işıkhan gave the following information: "Our Ministry's Guidance and Inspection Directorate carries out its labor inspection activities in line with the objectives of protecting the rights of employees, improving occupational health and safety conditions, making permanent compliance with the legislation in working life and strengthening labor peace. In this context, it aims to adopt a guidance and awareness-raising approach based not only on detecting non-compliance with the legislation, but also on resolving these non-compliances within the inspection period and creating a sustainable culture of harmony in workplaces." We keep it in plan.
In 2026, a total of 11 thousand 39 inspections were carried out, 4 thousand 179 in terms of work execution and 6 thousand 860 in terms of occupational health and safety. We decided to stop work due to a life-threatening detection in 190 workplaces. During the said period, we imposed administrative fines of approximately 800 million lira on 3 thousand 274 workplaces. "In addition, workers were made to pay their individual receivables amounting to approximately 890 million lira, and public receivables amounting to 338 million lira were collected."
Stating that the number of workplaces inspected is aimed to reach 18 thousand at the end of the year, Işıkhan continued his words as follows: "Only in 2026, a total of 665 mining workplaces were inspected in 61 provinces. 147 of these workplaces carry out underground and 518 of them carry out surface mining activities. As a result of the inspections, an administrative fine of 129 million lira was imposed. The decision to stop the work was carried out." The number of underground mining workplaces is 7 and the number of above-ground mining workplaces is 36. We increased the number of inspections by over 4 thousand in 2026 compared to last year. In this regard, the number of workers reached has also increased. However, it should be emphasized that preventing work accidents and occupational diseases is not possible only with inspection. We should not forget that the targeted levels will be reached by increasing the cultural and awareness level of the state, employer and worker trivet.
"WE CONTINUE OUR CONSULTATIONS FOR THE REGISTERED WORK OF DOMESTIC WORKERS"
Emphasizing that they attach importance to the rights of domestic workers and improving their working conditions, Işıkhan said: "We first evaluated the problems and solution suggestions with the representatives of the union and its affiliated confederations, which are engaged in organizing activities of domestic workers in social dialogue, in May 2024. At the consultation meeting we held on May 27, 2025, we evaluated the topics of social security, informality, organization and occupational health and safety. The domestic workers panel held in Antalya in January 2026." "We directly dealt with the problems of our domestic workers by participating in the workshop. Within the scope of our concrete work, we signed a training, research and cooperation protocol between ÇAŞGEM and HAK-İŞ on March 11, 2026. We also facilitate insured employment in domestic services with the EK-9 Insurance and Easy Employer Application. We continue our consultations with social partners to ensure that domestic workers work in registered and decent conditions."
"85 PERCENT OF EMPLOYERS PROJECT TO USE TRANSFORMATION APPLICATIONS"
Minister Işıkhan reminded that they conducted the Research on the Effects of Twin Transformation on the Labor Market in 2024 through İŞKUR and said: "In our research, we found that 14.1 percent of employers are in the twin transformation process, 34 percent are using digital and 28 percent are using green transformation applications. In addition, 85 percent of employers foresee using green and digital transformation applications in the next 5 years. We plan to conduct our research regularly. In our research With the transformation, we see that new professions such as sustainability specialist, data scientist, ecologist, researcher, coordinator, data designer, content designer are starting to come to the fore. In order to respond to these needs, we have provided training to 300 business and career consultants in the fields of sustainability and sustainability reporting. We will also provide special consultancy services to businesses that will identify the skills and human resource needs of employers arising from the green transformation, through our vocational training courses and on-the-job training programs. We will support their creation."
Touching on the impact of artificial intelligence on professions, Işıkhan said, "We completed the Labor Market Artificial Intelligence Exposure study in order to reveal the effects of this transformation on our country's labor market more concretely. With our study, we analyzed the artificial intelligence and robotics automation exposure levels of professions based on task and skill requirements. We repeat these studies regularly due to the continuous transformation and dynamism of the labor market." he said.
"WE DID NOT GIVE ONE PEN OF OUR WORKERS' RIGHTS TO ANYONE"
Addressing the questions about whether the Unemployment Insurance Fund has a connection with the liquidated funds, Işıkhan said: "The Unemployment Insurance Fund has no connection with the liquidated funds. The Unemployment Insurance Fund is evaluated in accordance with the provisions of the Public Treasury Regulation. In this regard, the fund sources are evaluated in the Inter-Government Debt Securities, public deposit banks and public participation banks, and Takasbank, which are clearly stated in the regulation. The fund sources can be evaluated in another field other than these instruments or in speculative It is not legally or technically possible to use it in transactions. The authorization for the Unemployment Insurance Fund to operate at Takasbank was given with the regulation amendment made on January 19, 2022, and after this date, the interest rates at Takasbank are compared with the deposit interest rates. In addition, all banking transactions in the Unemployment Insurance Fund are carried out by Takasbank. "Our intermediary institution in transactions is Halk Yatırım. Due to the operation of Takasbank, buyers and sellers cannot see each other. Every transaction made is under the guarantee of Takasbank. Therefore, our interlocutor regarding these transactions is Takasbank, which is a public institution."
Minister Işıkhan pointed out that the Unemployment Insurance Fund is audited at regular intervals by both the Court of Accounts and independent auditing institutions and said, "The results of these audits, detailed tables of the financial transactions made and where and how the resources are used, are regularly shared with the public. When these financial tables and reports are examined, it will be seen that the Unemployment Insurance Fund does not have any transactions with the fund management companies in question. I would like to draw this to your attention. The Unemployment Insurance Fund is the sweat of our workers, it is the right of our workers. We "We have not and will not allow anyone to lose even a penny of the rights of our laborers and workers." he said.
Following Minister Işıkhan's statements, the budget, final accounts and Court of Accounts reports of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and the Vocational Qualifications Authority (MYK) and the Court of Accounts reports of the Social Security Institution (SGK) and İŞKUR were accepted in the voting held in the Commission.
