I had the privilege to have one-on-one interviews with the minister of education in Turkey and the minister of social services. From both interviews I was able to learn how the refugee crisis in Syria and other countries has hurt Turkey’s services to its citizens. Though there has been directives that have helped with this crisis it is important to recognize how the EU has created this burden on Turkey.

Sunday Times: Why has Turkey added to directives clauses on refugee education?
Minister of Education: In countries like Syria that have a big outflow of refugees, the majority of the refugees have migrated to neighboring nations specifically Turkey. Disappointingly, many families are traveling to Turkey, which has hurt social services in Turkey because of the number of people who are now utilizing these services. Turkey is a small country though powerful and does not have the infrastructure to support these people.

Sunday Times: How has Turkey’s relationship with the EU affected the refugee crisis?

Minister of Education: The European Union is very stingy with the number of refugees they allow into their borders. They havent helped much in terms of relief or allowing people into their nations to take the burden off Turkey.

Sunday Times: I’m sorry to hear that! How has COVID affected the number of refugees Turkey has seen?

Minister of Education: Due to COVID, Turkey has been forced to close their borders a few times, which has caused the number of refugees to decrease. However, COVID has made the means of immigration more unsafe. Most refugees are not vaccinated against COVID or potentially bring it with them. Refugee sites specifically have had high number of COVID cases.

Sunday Times: What are solutions Turkey has been focusing on with the refugee crisis?

Minister of Social Services: Turkey has worked on directives that increase social service access to refugees and increased the budget for these services.

Sunday Times: Good to hear there have been strides hopefully other countries step up to help with this crisis!

Update:

Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Germany’s Minister of foreign affairs organized a meeting between the two nations to discuss refugee issues. Turkey ends up upset with the indifferent of reaction of Germany. The cabinet of Germany believes the EU and themselves have done enough to aid the crisis. Both countries leave unhappy.

Simply put, these ministers are focusing on receiving monetary benefits in the short term, rather than focusing on long term advantage.

While the majority of Turkey’s Cabinet is searching for these ideas, the energy minister’s plan to promote the achievement of sustainable development goals within Turkey will also provide more jobs, thus stimulating its economic growth, which makes her plan all the more beneficial since it targets multiple points of interest. In the energy minister’s words, “I know this will work to stimulate the economy through increasing jobs, without increasing inflation because it has been done before,” she continues on, stating, “This solution will not only help solve the crises of Turkey’s Syrian refugees, climate change, and the economic downfall within Turkey, but it will also show other countries that Turkey wants to make a difference and that it cares about global issues.”

“If we want to no longer be treated as a laughing stock, we must look to tested, project-based plans that will make Turkey better for many years to come,” she continued. “Isn’t that the entire point of our work?”