At the Turkey Accessibility Awards Ceremony, organized at the Presidential Complex by the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services, Türksat Belgenet was awarded an award in the Digital Applications Category. Türksat CEO Hasan Hüseyin Ertok received the award from First Lady Emine Erdoğan.
The award ceremony was attended by Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoğlu, Minister of Education Ziya Selçuk, AK Party Group Deputy Chairman Muhammet Emin Akbaşoğlu, AK Party Headquarter Women’s Branch President Ayşe Keşir, as well as other invitees.
Minister of Family, Labor and Social Services Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk noted that by carrying out close to 43 thousand inspections, they have given out 1574 Accessibility Certificates and prepared the standards in this field with cooperation from Turkish Standards Institute (TSE).
Minister Selçuk continued:
“Under the leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, we became one the first countries to sign the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Treaty in 2007. By adding a new provision to Article 10 of the Constitution, we have secured affirmative action for disabled individuals. With the mental transformation towards disabled services in our country, our corporate services have also changed and transformed. Quality standards of basic needs such as education, health, care services have increased more than ever. We are aware that our disabled citizens should receive healthcare services faster and more effectively. For this very reason, under the General Health Insurance we cover all treatment costs, including medical devices and medication.”
The number of barrier-free living centers increased to 127
Emphasizing that they prioritize family care rather than institutional care in terms of caring for disabled citizens, Selçuk stated as part of the “Home Care Assistance” program, which they started in 2007, they currently lend support to more than half a million citizens under the care of family members.
Noting that they increased the number of barrier-free living centers from 7 in 2018 to 127 as of this month, Selçuk added, “We have been providing inpatient care services in 545 care centers to nearly 29 thousand disabled individuals who cannot be cared for by their families. We are proud to say that 11 official and 92 private residential care centers have opened in the last 2 years alone.”
Stating that enabling disabled individuals to participate in the work force has always been one of their primary goals, Minister Selçuk continued as follows:
“We give importance to them being more productive, independent and confident individuals. We always show our support to them with programs where its mandatory to employ disabled individuals, Disabled Business Coaching, E-KPSS and entrepreneurship. With facilitative and incentive policies, the rate of disabled individuals quota has increased from year to year, reaching 95 percent in the public sector and 82 percent in the private sector. In addition, to this day, we have provided grant support to nearly 3 thousand disabled individuals in order for them to start their own businesses. I would like to announce that applications for the İŞKUR grant support is ongoing, the application process can be done through the e-Government Portal until April 16th.”
Award winning projects
Turkey Accessibility Awards consisted of 9 categories. 1075 applications were put in for the awards. The winners in 9 categories were determined separately through the “jury” and “public voting” method. According to the Turkey Accessibility Awards category the winners are as follows:
- Accessible Designs and Products Category:
Jury Winner: Lineadecor
1st in Public Voting: Sözer Vurgun (Teacher)
- Accessible Digital Applications Category:
Jury Winner: Türksat
1st in Public Voting: Turkey Association of the Hearing Impaired
- Accessible Public Institutions and Organizations Category:
Jury Winner: Sivas Nuri Demirağ Airport
1st in Public Voting: Kahramanmaraş Family, Labor and Social Services Provincial Directorate
- Accessible Universities Category:
Jury Winner: Akdeniz University
1st in Public Voting: Osmaniye Korkut Ata University
- Accessible Local Management Services Category:
Jury Winner: Selçuklu Municipality
1st in Public Voting: Üsküdar Municipality
- Accessible Workplaces Category:
Jury Winner: İGA Airport Operations
1st in Public Voting: Turkish Tractor
-Accessibility Social Responsibility Projects Category:
Jury Winner: Viking Cleaning
1st in Public Voting: Accessible Access Association
- Scientific Studies and Projects in the Field of Accessibility Category:
Jury Winner: Istanbul Technical University Teaching Assistant Volkan Sezer
1st in Public Voting: Nurbahar Bora
- Accessible Media Content Category:
Jury Winner: Diyanet TV
1st in Public Voting: Ministry of Education with its TRT EBA broadcasts