Minister of Youth and Sports Osman Aşkın Bak answered the criticisms and questions of the members of parliament at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Planning and Budget Commission, where the 2027 budget of his ministry was discussed.
Asked how to deal with the Greek Cypriot embargo that prevents TRNC citizens from doing sports, giving the example of the football training camp planned by the Spanish club Barcelona being canceled as a result of the pressure of the Greek Cypriots, Bak said, "The Greek lobby raised a fuss and prevented Barcelona from coming. We were there too, we said: 'We will bring our 4 big teams, you can play a tournament here with the under-15 teams.' It is not possible to accept this embargo. We also ensured that the TRNC Table Tennis Federation became a member of the Balkan Table Tennis Association. He joined an Olympic team for the first time. Because this embargo is being broken in places. "We are working for this." he said.
Minister Bak also answered questions about student capacity in KYK dormitories, meals, training and disaster precautions. Stating that they increased the capacity of KYK dormitories to 1 million, Bak said, "We stated that we increased the capacity of KYK dormitories to 1 million. There is no such system in the world. If you want, send your child to England, will you be able to educate in this way? No state has such an approach. If you do not have money, you cannot study there. The opportunities we provide here are not available in any system in the world. Is it sufficient? If there are deficiencies, we are trying to eliminate them." he said.
Explaining that they are trying to renovate the old KYK dormitories, Bak said that the renovation investments are continuing "step by step".
Osman Aşkın Bak noted: "We also have dormitories that are currently under construction and will be completed within this year. This number will be completed with the construction and rental of 29 dormitories by the end of 2026. We have not received 5 of them yet. Their construction is continuing, they are about to be completed and we will accept the students in January. This number increases to 31 thousand. Look, we have 21 dormitories under construction, and they will have a capacity of 25 thousand. We will prepare this next year. "There are approximately 32 dormitories planned at the tender stage. We will add these to the 34 thousand capacity."
Bak, stating that KYK investments continue because they do not want any of the students to be left out, said: "We have placed 96 percent of the applications. We manage a really big system, it is not easy. Are there any shortcomings? Maybe. At the inspection point, we put cameras in their kitchens, we follow them as security, we involve our students in this work. There are gyms in our dormitories. There are theater workshops. We do awareness training, addiction training, social activities, trips and picnics."
"OUR DUTY IS TO KEEP OUR YOUTH AWAY FROM ADDICTION AND BAD HABITS"
Responding to the criticism that there is not enough budget allocated for the fight against addiction, Bak continued: "I said it in the last budget; it is a technical issue. We also discussed this in the strategy and budget. We say 73 million lira, we cannot change this. We only called for 200 million lira for NGOs and clubs in the 'Step by Step Hand in Hand: Action to Combat Addiction' program. We say to them for 200 million lira, 'You fight, we will." Let us support you and do it together with you.' One of our duties is to keep our young people away from addiction and bad habits. One way of this is sports, the other way is art. Did you come to our theater competition? Did you come to the music concert played by young people? We made the final in Aspendos with 11 thousand children. "Come and see, listen to the children."
Bak responded to the question about whether he found the psychological counseling support given to young people in KYK dormitories sufficient or not: "We are working on psychological and social support. We are recruiting 150 psychologists and 300 social workers. Their interviews are currently being held, they will also participate. We demand the same. Sports psychologists are the same way. Although children do not do it in person, they participate in this platform in the digital environment, they participate face to face. We are trying to increase the number. It was not there 4-5 years ago. You can put forward your demands and criticisms." "There are also these among them. The constraints of our budget are obvious, I say these, but we invest a large part of the income we earn in youth and sports."
In response to a question about the support provided to amateur sports, Bak said, "I am also someone who came from amateur sports clubs. I have been a manager and coach in amateur sports clubs. Currently, we have provided over 1.5 billion in aid to amateur sports clubs in this year's budget. Plus, we will provide aid again at the end of this month or at the beginning of January. The general figure is over 2 billion, we aim for 2.5 billion next year." he replied.
Stating that the managers and coaches of amateur sports clubs are heroes, Bak said, "I grew up among them. In amateur sports clubs, it is really important to gather the children, take them to the matches, train them, and advise them to be the right man, to be decent men, to be decent people who love their country." he said.
Minister Bak explained that the place of amateur sports clubs in the fight against drug addiction cannot be denied and said: "The most important people in the fight against drugs in the neighborhood are the managers and presidents of amateur sports clubs and headmen, and we work together like this. Let me give an example in Istanbul. With the investments we made in school sports in Istanbul, we increased the number of school sports clubs to 3 thousand, and 850 thousand students are actively involved in sports. We are trying to spread sports to the grassroots."
"WE WILL PROVIDE EMPLOYMENT FOR 3 MILLION YOUNG PEOPLE"
Stating that they are working with the Ministry of National Education on athlete screening, Bak said: "There are serious investments and serious results regarding talent screening. We are following up. We are getting medals in branches where we have not won medals before. For example, we became European champions in modern pentathlon for the first time. Have you heard of them before? Same thing in gymnastics. Look at archery, you will see that these archers will get more medals in the next Olympics. Shooters, look, İlayda Tarhan became the world champion. Before that, in Armenia He became the European champion. Yusuf Dikeç became the champion."
Stating that they are trying to train new athletes in wrestling, Bak said, "We are facing a generation change in wrestling. We are trying to invest more." he said.
Stating that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan follows Turkish sports closely, Bak said, "With the system announced by our President, our goal is to provide employment to 3 million young people in the next 2.5 to 3 years." he said.
"THERE ARE ALSO THOSE WHO GAINED EXPERIENCE ABROAD AND RETURNED TO THE COUNTRY"
Stating that young people need more jobs, Bak said, "But we also have to accept this. Now, how can we neglect the development in the defense industry and the young engineers at TAI? There are software developers returning from abroad. We are witnesses to these too. We have engineers coming from the defense industry and electronic systems. I also studied abroad. I went and came, there are many engineers I know. They study and come back. Look, not everyone in this country goes. Those who go to work come back. They come back after gaining experience." he said.
Stating that Türkiye is producing engines, Minister Bak said, "As you know, we are currently making engines. If I am not mistaken, TEI General Manager Mr. Mahmut Faruk Akşit came from abroad. He came to develop the engine. He was working elsewhere. Again, the friend who took over TOGG was working in Germany, and he came. There are many engineers who come to serve their backward country. There are young people, there are investors. Hopefully, we believe that it will be much better." he said.
"WE GIVE SCHOLARSHIP TO 650 THOUSAND STUDENTS AND LOANS TO 850 THOUSAND STUDENTS"
Stating that the amount of scholarships and loans available to students in 2027 will be increased, Bak said: "As you know, we give unrequited scholarships to approximately 650 thousand students, and we give loans to the remaining approximately 850 thousand students. You all know that in 2022, all student debts have been erased, approximately 22 billion lira of debt has been erased. As you all know, the student receives these loans during the school period, does not pay anything for 2 years until he gets a job after finishing, and is collected when he starts working until he gets a job." "If he is not employed, you justify it; the state does not demand this from you."
Following the discussions, the 2027 budget of the Ministry of Youth and Sports was accepted.
