Issue: 38
Art is one of the most important tools for the building up and evaluation of creative and productive individuals within a society. As in many fields of social life, young people with disabilities are generally deprived of arts in Turkey. The "Dreams Academy" project, recently started jointly by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Alternative Life Association (AYDER), the Vodafone Turkey Foundation and the Beşiktaş Municipality, aims to break social deprivation and empower people with disabilities to be active and productive. Through the use of arts as a medium, The "Dream Academy" project is expected to inspire and integrate individuals with physical, mental, hearing, visual disabilities and also chronic illnesses and low-income and disadvantaged youth groups.
As part of the project, Turkey’s first fully-accessible party was organized on December 28, 2008 at one of İstanbul’s most favored music hall and lounge, Ghetto, in the Beyoğlu district. The turnout for the event was remarkable. Nearly 450 guests gathered in the fully-accessible venue and partied till the late hours. It was a memorable event in that for the first time ever, people with and without disabilities were able to come together and celebrate with music, dance and visual performances (please click here to watch Star TV's broadcast of the event - Turkish).
In addition to the launch of the project in November 2008, this was the second major event for the "Dreams Academy" project. In both occasions, the two venues were made accessible for people with disabilities thanks to the "Dreams Academy". The rooms and WCs that were not previously accessible for people with disabilities now all have ramps and other means of access.
As of December 2008, over 400 applications have been made to the "Dreams Academy" that conducts arts trainings in İstanbul, at four different venues and approximately 10 ateliers. In addition to workshops on vocal music, rhythm, dance, instrument playing, DJ, film and animation, the "Dreams Academy" has collaborated with İstanbul Moda Academy. As a result, the first fashion design workshop for people with disabilities was conducted.
The "Dreams Academy" was established jointly by UNDP, AYDER, the Vodafone Turkey Foundation and the Beşiktaş Municipality. AYDER is a non-governmental organization with the purpose of increasing awareness on the needs of socially and physically disadvantaged people, their integration into social life and developing partnerships among disadvantaged groups and with the governments, local authorities and the private sector.
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Photo: Hakan Çınar
This joint initiative of UNDP Turkey and the Ministry of Finance aimed to create a platform to discuss the recent trends and developments about tax policy options. The conference is also expected to contribute to the ongoing discussions on the taxation chapter as part of Turkey’s EU accession process.
On the first day of the conference, alternatives for reformulation of Turkey’s tax system and policy options were discussed and comparative studies of relevant tax systems in Europe were referred to.
In the welcome remarks, Seyit Ahmet Baş, General Manager of General Directorate of Revenue Policies of Ministry of Finance, stated that the conference will contribute to strengthening the administrative capacity of the General Directorate of Revenue Policies.
Opening remarks included the speeches of United Nations Deputy Resident Representative Ulrika Richardson-Golinski and Undersecretary of Ministry of Finance Hasan Basri Aktan. United Nations Deputy Resident Representative Ulrika Richardson-Golinski stressed the importance of adopting policies to address main challenges of the Turkish taxation system. Undersecretary of Ministry of Finance Hasan Basri Aktan said the conference will contribute to policy making in taxation. Aktan also thanked UNDP Turkey Office for organizing the conference.
In his speech titled “Tax System and policy options of Turkey”, Deputy of General Directorate of Revenue Policies of Ministry of Finance Ünal Tayyan provided an overview of taxation system in Turkey and examined the share of tax revenues in local administrations.
Representing the European Commission, Umut Özdemir, Sector Manager for Public Finance, gave information on the EU tax policy adding that taxes imposed by Turkey on alcoholic beverages and tobacco are issues regarding adoption of the acquis.
Fiscal Affairs Director of IMF Teresa Ter-Minassian gave a speech on the recent developments in the rationalization of the tax system (trade off between direct and indirect taxation, redistribution of the tax burden).
Pointing out that translation of actual Turkish legal rules into English can help foreign investors, Victor Thuronyi, Senior Counsel at Legal Department of IMF, stated that the income tax structure in Turkey should be reviewed.
Senior Economist at United Nations Development Programme Bureau for Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States Ben Slay examined tax and social policy reforms of new EU member states. Slay stressed that tax reform is also about poverty reduction and added that tax reform, when done right, can reduce poverty and support social solidarity.
Associate Professor of Finance at the African Tax Institute of University of Pretoria, South Africa, Caner Selçuk talked about comparative tax policy and the role of taxation in economic growth.
The first day of the conference ended with a round table discussion among Roy Bahl (Georgia State University), Selçuk Caner (Pretoria University), Ben Slay (UNDP), Teresa Ter-Minassian (IMF) and Victor Thuronyi (IMF) moderated by Jorge Martinez (Georgia State University).
The second day of the conference provided an opportunity for in-depth discussions about taxation polices, particularly in the field of harmonization of indirect taxes in accession process; micro aspects of taxation; fiscal decentralization and intergovernmental revenue sharing. The distinguished academicians, experts and representatives of the international community together with the Ministry bureaucrats focused on the related issues of taxation and hence contributed to the development of a road map for Turkey towards EU membership.
New Horizons spoke with Ben Slay, Senior Economist at United Nations Development Programme Bureau for Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States, about the conference, Turkish economy, taxation system in Turkey and global crisis.
UNDP Turkey: What are your impressions on the conference?
Ben Slay (B.S.): Well, I think it is a very important conference at an important time in three respects. First, Turkey is beginning negotiations on the tax chapter at accession discussions with the European Commission. So, that is a very important issue in the context of integration with European Community. Second, the global economy and the Turkish economy are deteriorating rapidly. The Turkish economy may already be in recession and when the overall macroeconomic picture deteriorates, the fiscal balance, the budget become extremely important. These are issues that will become increasingly significant as we go forward. Number three, we should always be concerned about the welfare of those least fortunate, least well-off in any country including Turkey. It is very important to see how changes in the tax system can be introduced that do not burden those who are most vulnerable, those who are poorest, those who can least afford change. Here it is important to keep an eye on the links between tax policy, social policy and the market policy.
UNDP Turkey: You mentioned that the global economy and the Turkish economy are deteriorating rapidly. Could you please elaborate more on that?
B.S.: Certainly, the global crisis affects developing countries and Turkey in three or four ways. The first is that the demand for exports is falling. Turkey’s export markets in the European Union, United States, Middle East and other places, the growth is either slowing or these markets are contracting. So that is the first hit, the export hit. The second hit is terms of trade. At the prices that Turkey is paying, the prices Turkey is receiving for its exports are falling. So not only are fewer exports being sold but the price is falling, the price of textiles for example. There is a real downward pressure on these things. That is not such a problem for Turkey compared to some other countries. Third, and this is a very serious problem for Turkey is countries that have a big debt, a big foreign debt that have to refinance their foreign debt. In other words, the debt is coming due, they have to either pay the debt or borrow to refinance the debt. It is very difficult now for countries to refinance their foreign debt and the only way that can easily be done is through the IMF which is why it is so important for Turkey to come to some kind of agreement with the IMF presumably after the local elections in March so that the 7-8 billion dollars foreign debt that Turkey has to repay in the early part of this year 2009 so that it can get that money from the IMF and other places at relatively low interest rates rather than have to borrow at much higher interest rates from the markets that are not able to borrow at all. Last but not least, this is also important for Turkey; remittances. Turks working in Europe that send back Euros, there are fewer jobs now, there is less money coming back either migrant workers or the Diaspora. And so this also will have an impact. These are the four transmission mechanisms that we are concerned about and we are following.
UNDP Turkey: What do you think of Turkey’s taxation system on the way to European Union?
B.S.: Well, compared to the countries that joined European Union in 2004 and 2007, Turkey is in many respects a much better situation, because it is a market economy, because it has been a member of OECD for many years. By contrast, countries that joined European Union in 2004-2007 only recently became market economies. Prior to 1990, these were part of the Soviet economy or the Yugoslav economy which was much socialist. So, in that sense Turkey is quite well prepared relatively speaking. The issue is not so much in terms of the economics of the tax system, but more the administrative dimensions, the judicial dimensions that reflect the rule of law issues and the political issues in Turkey.
UNDP Turkey: How can Turkey better cope with the problem of informality/unpaid taxes?
B.S.: Many develoing countries have large informal sectors. Many of the countries that joined EU in 2004 and 2007 have large informal sectors as well. The thing to do is to really understand why those informal sectors exist, what activities of the state create disincentives for entrepreneurs to declare their activities and how could those policies of the state be changed to increase the cost of non-compliance or reduce the cost of declaring your activities going informal. Sometimes it is tax reform, sometimes it is changing the way the services are delivered, but you have to go sector by sector and think about it not only as an economist but also as a psychologist, as an anthoropologist to really understand culture, the way people actually live.
UNDP Turkey: How can the Taxation System in Turkey be improved so that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are strengthened more?
B.S.: I think SMEs as is the case with larger companies in Turkey would very much benefit from a simpler, more transparent and more stable tax system where there are fewer taxes to pay but there are also fewer ways of avoiding taxes. So, for example, for a small farmer or a small businessperson to not have to place different rates of that turonover tax, excises, but just maybe to pay one registration tax a year, 100 dollars, 200 dollars, whatever and that is it. That is a very simple way of solving the problem. And then you can find intermediate solution between the current rather complicated sitution for small businesses and a very simple one would revolve around lump-sum tax, where you just pay a certain amount every year regardless of how much business you do all of which would involve some amount of simplification and clarification of the existing system.
UNDP Turkey: In your talk at the conference, why was there so much emphasis on flat tax?
B.S.: The emphasis is because, of the countries that joined the European Union in 2004-2007, more and more of them are adopting flat tax systems and the countries that in some respects have the best economic performance are the ones that introduced the flat taxes first. So the flat tax is not a panacea, it is not a miracle but it is worth looking at. Because the experience especially, when the flat tax is combined with social policy reform and labour market regulation reform can really help to solve some problems that might otherwise be very difficult.
UNDP Turkey: What do we mean by the expansion of tax base and what is the situation in Turkey in this respect?
B.S.: Well, at a most general level economic development can be understood in terms of broadening tax base. When a country is at a low level development, most economic activity is agriculture production or self sufficiency. So the family, who produces food, can feed itself or maintains animals to feed itself and never engages in economic activity sold in market therefore never has economic activities that are taxed and all of the economics of the family are outside the tax system. As economic development occurs, as markets grow, as economic activity in general becomes more modern, tax base grows. The question then becomes how to introduce taxes into economic activities that previously were not taxed and what is the best way to do that to avoid distrorting the economy. And the markets develop in an economy like Turkey where there is still large agricultural sector. And where in other sectors, in services, in small scale industry there is a large share of informal activity where it is a market but is not necesarilly official. There is a question of changing culture to make it acceptable and normal for people to recognize that paying taxes makes sense and to some extent this involves public relations. It involves conveying a sense of civic resposiblity to people but it also involves simplyfing the tax system to make it less burdenesome to pay taxes. So it is a cultural, it is a legal and it is an administrative challange and it is true whether we are talking about SMEs, whether we are talking about agriculture or whether we are talking about other sectors.
UNDP Turkey: Anything else you would like to comment about the tax system in Turkey?
B.S.: I would maybe make one or two comments. The first is there is going to be a real tension in Turkey in the next year between short-run tax measures that support the budget at a time of declining economic activity or slowing economic growth linked to the economic problems and economic crisis. The deficit will get better, there will be a search for short-term solutions to prevent the budget deficit getting out of control.That is very different from the long term challanges of putting in place a modern, fair European tax system... So, managing the tradeoff between short term demands of managing the economic crisis and the longer term demand of performing the tax systems. Second, we have to keep in mind that low-income families and the least well-off parts of Turkish society may be especially affected by changes not only in the tax system and but related changes in social policy. It is extremely important to look at how changes in excise taxes, changes in value-added taxes, changes in income taxes also interact with changes in social benefits to be sure that there are not uninteded consequences in terms of making poverty and social exclusion worse for those people who are least able to afford it and if such changes are necessary, then there should be compensating changes in terms of social benefits to protect those who are least to able to bear the burden of higher taxes or lower benefits in other respects.
UNDP Turkey: How do you think the global crisis is affecting the achievement of United Nations Millenium Development Goals (MDGs)?
B.S.: It will regretablly make fulfulling the MDGs much more difficult because the single most important factor in meeting the MDGs is economic growth. Economic growth raises the incomes of poor people, allows you to meet MDG 1. Economic growth creates more revenues for state budgets allowing for expediture on public health, allowing you to meet MDGs 2,3, 4 better. MDG allows for more revenues for the state to support gender related initiatives, MDG 5, and it provides more revenues for dealing with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, MDG 6, and provides more funds for businesses to invest in environmentally sustainable techonologies, MDG 7 as well as more funds for developed countries to provide ODA to developing countries, MDG 8. So, when there is a recession or when economic growth slows, it makes it more difficult to do anything on the MDGs. And it is really sad that at a time when so many countries would otherwise be focusing on poverty reduction and helping those who are least fortunate in their countries, the MDG agenda, they are instead focusing on macro economic management, bailing out their banks and being sure that big macro economic questions are answered. Those questions were answered satisfactorily in many countries so recently and now they can reveal.
UNDP Turkey: What are the effects of the global crisis on international development actors?
B.S.: Well, clearly there will be a reduction in official development assistance provided by those ODA contributors, EU, United States, Canada, Japan... At the same time one could have imagined more and more ODA being provided by countries like Turkey, like Russia, like China. And that is good but it makes the problems of donor coordination so much more difficult. Donor coordination and harmonization of course is a major part of making development decisions work better that is what the Paris Declaration is all about. So one could have imagined that even if ODA from developed countries declines but that is offset by more ODA from China, Brazil, India, Russia, and Turkey, the picture becomes much more fragmented and much harder to coordinate. Then when you have more ODA coming from the Gates Foundation, from the Open Society and from all sorts of non-government actors, coordination problems can become worse. So I think at best we are looking at constant and maybe somewhat declining ODA overall, probably more significant declines from the major donors and much more difficult coordination problems for the overall development cooperation picture.
Wheat farmers in Erzurum take action to protect local zerun, kırik, şigon wheat species and küşne, külür, zegerek fodder plants. The aim of the project “Sustainable and Effective Usage of Resources in the Production of Local Zerun, Kırik, Şigon Organic Wheat” is to prevent wheat breeds and fodder plants from extinction, to protect these local breeds in the regional ecosystem and in situ and to ensure sustainable and effective usage of water resources. The project is supported in the context of the grants component of Small Investments Fund Project Phase II, which is carried out in partnership with Union of Eastern Anatolia Agricultural Producers and Stock Farmers (DOĞBESBİR), United Nations Development Programme and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline Company (BTC).
People from Pasinler, Aşkale and Ilıca villages of Erzurum, which are located on the route of the BTC pipeline, earn their living from grain production. The local plants, zerun, kırik, şigon wheat species and küşne, külür, zegerek fodder plants can adapt to continental climate and are resistant to plant diseases. Seeds imported from abroad, which have higher yields, are subsidized whereas local seeds are not. This situation negatively affects the villagers. Local crops are not much demanded in the market and although the gluten ingredient of local crops is high, they are sold at low prices. Farmers are unaware of the characteristics of the local species. What is more, there is not any academic work on these local seeds. For this reason, the project aims to conserve local zerun, kırik, şigon wheat species and küşne, külür, zegerek fodder plants in situ, ensure organic certification of these species, increase their production and promote the conservation of biodiversity. Moreover, making the food production in the region efficient, raising the fattening quality to sustainable levels, increasing the prosperity of poor people in rural areas through protection and improvement of water resources and creating a model in the region are among the targets of the project.
As part of the project, seeds provided by DOĞBESBİR were distributed to farmers and were planted under the control of agricultural engineers. The farmers were registered and then the contracted auditing and certification organization conducted the first investigations. A training curriculum and training materials were prepared for the farmers and the trainings covering the topics of accurate cultivation methods, biodiversity, factors affecting the agricultural efficiency, organic agriculture and effective irrigation techniques were delivered. Additionally, The Control Certification Organization has significantly contributed to increased awareness of the farmers on the rules of buying organic products.
The achieved success also attracts attention of the farmers who did not participate in the project. Farmers who have formerly started to practice organic agriculture are also participating in the project with their own seeds. Through the project, an increase in the number of farmers adopting organic production is indicated for the harvest of 2009.
Organic agriculture, which commenced in 2002, provides significant income for the farmers in the region. More than 10.000 tons of organic wheat has been sold to İstanbul Halk Ekmek Inc. since 2004 and other organic product demands from Turkey and abroad were met. With the contribution of this project, farmers’ income levels have risen.
The project mentioned above is one of the nine small-scale projects in the context of the grants component of BTC/UNDP Small Investments Fund Project Phase II. In this framework, other projects focusing on protection of biodiversity and raising awareness, sustainable use of local clean energy resources, eco-tourism in Kars, Adana, Osmaniye and Hatay were supported. A total of $263.950 were granted for the projects that were carried out between November 2007 and December 2008.
The exhibition will start on March 18 at Maslak Campus of İstanbul Technical University. The exhibition will be held as part of the "Every Drop Matters" project, a regional partnership initiative aimed at increasing access to safe drinking water, facilitating the use of environmentally sound industrial technologies, and promoting responsible water resource management through outreach and awareness-raising activities in countries of Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States.
During the exhibition, "Every Drop Matters" project will promote its initiatives, present the World Water Forum, raise awareness on the protection of water resources, and reach out to 300,000 visitors as well as millions of other people through media coverage and campaigns. "Every Drop Matters" project will also reach out to high level stakeholders during the "Official Side Event" of the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) and grand opening ceremonies involving top executives of the UN, the UNDP, TCCC, the Turkish Government and the İstanbul Municipality. The exhibition will be open in İstanbul for four months.
Water:H20=Life was created by the Department of Exhibition of the National American Museum of History. As it is meant to have a global reach, it will travel to South America, Asia, Australia, Asia and North America from 2008-2011. The exhibition aims to raise awareness about environmental issues, with a special emphasis on children’s education. The exhibition points out that water is not a renewable resource and that only one percent of the existing water on earth is available for human use, and interactive installations demonstrate how increasing environmental pollution endangers drinking water. The exhibition identifies ways to rectify the situation, suggesting the use of wind, solar, and tidal power instead of dams, which have proven to be less efficient.
Indeed, water is a source of life and a natural resource that sustains environment and supports livelihood, but it can also be a source of risk and vulnerability. At least 1.2 billion people currently lack access to safe drinking water, and water resources are becoming scarce day by day. Given the central role of water in poverty alleviation and human and ecosystem health, effective management of water resources is of the utmost importance. Recognizing the significant challenges related to water, both TCCC and UNDP have committed to identifying and advocating solutions to these issues.
Leading Turkish financial institutions such as Industrial Development Bank of Turkey (TSKB), İşbank and Vakıfbank gave information on how they integrate environmental issues into financial products and services. Experts from the region presented new ideas on “green” banking and insurance products as well as best practice in environmental credit risk management.
The local financial institutions such as TSKB, İş Bank, Yapı Kredi Bank highlighted the ongoing activities in Turkey from the sustainable finance point of view, but they also recognized that there is much to be done. The experiences shared by Bank Austria and Piraeus Bank were very much welcomed. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) also announced that a new branch will be operational soon in İstanbul and in the near future in Ankara as well, and that they are looking for similar opportunities in Turkey.
Approximately 80 participants joined the meeting actively and raised questions related to the alternative sustainable financial products, its viability, the comparative advantage the companies may gain and the time needed to establish such an infrastructure. All the participants agreed that a follow up survey to assess national demand is critical while designing the capacity building program. UNDP Turkey Office also committed to organize a follow up training for local partners in close collaboration with United Nations Environment Programme, Regional Environmental Center (REC), and other partners such as Turkish Business Council on Sustainable Development and Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association.
The event provided a unique opportunity for senior and middle level management of financial institutions to meet and get acquainted with current approaches of the financial industry towards environmentally and socially relevant topics. The event was hosted by Yapı Kredi Bank and supported by REC Turkey, EBRD and the UNDP Turkey Office.
UNEP FI is a unique global partnership between UNEP and over 170 financial institutions, focusing on the impacts of environmental and social considerations on financial performance.
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The project, which is implemented in partnership with Youth Association for Habitat, Microsoft Turkey and United Nations Development Programme, aims to increase the number of ICT literates mainly among disadvantaged young people and to create employment opportunities for them to get actively involved in e-governance mechanisms in the country.
Over 100 eager volunteers and residents attended the opening ceremony of the academy in İzmir. Remarks were made by Mayor of the Municipality of Konak Muzaffer Tunçağ, Corporate Social Responsibilty Manager of Microsoft Şeniz Ciritçi, Head of Youth Association for Habitat Sezai Hazır, UNDP Project Assistant responsible for Private Sector Partnership Deniz Öztürk and Principal of the Vocational School of Dokuz Eylül University Dr. Şevkinaz Gümüşoğlu.
The ICT academies, which are established through partnerships with local governments, are present in İstanbul, Yalova, Rize, Ankara, Bitlis and İzmir.
The academies established with local governments provide trainers’ trainings. Besides, the center in İstanbul, acting as the Youth Leadership Academy, provides trainings on leadership skills, youth entrepreneurship, international relations and European affairs, local governance, ICTs and sustainable development for young people.
The implementation methodology of the project focuses on youth voluntarism; more than 520 young people from 61 cities covering every region in the country volunteered to provide basic computer and internet training for their peers. Therefore, the project has provided trainings to more than 40,000 young people as well as children, women, civil servants, local decision makers, community leaders, small enterprises, physically and mentally disabled persons, military servants and imprisoned persons.
Within the framework of this project, which is also known as “Those Who Know Should Teach Those Who Do not Know” project, there have been extensive refurbishments of personal computers. In partnership with Ayhan Şahenk Foundation, Microsoft Turkey, Youth Association for Habitat, Turkish State Railways and the Ministry of National Education, nearly 6,000 used computers have been refurbished and distributed as grants to institutions for the benefit of young people. Furthermore, about 1,125 local computer laboratories in 60 cities, that are established at elementary and secondary schools as well as at the local youth councils via this project, continue to serve as facilities for training young people on ICTs.
The project aims to increase the capacities of the local youth councils, local governments and non-governmental organizations so that their members and volunteers can multiply trainings as voluntary advocators of the project. Hence, the project partners with a number of local and regional institutions which contribute to the infrastructure and human capital of the project.
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One of the biggest obstacles for Turkey's full utilization of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and transformation into information society is digital gap. The first stage in closing the digital gap is providing access to information for disadvantaged groups, thereby increasing the number of computer-literate people. In light of this target, Youth Association for Habitat, United NationsDevelopment Programme and Turkey Vodafone Foundation supported Microsoft Turkey's "Turkey Develops with ICT" vision, and developed the project called "Bridging Digital Divide: Empowerment of Youth for E-Transformation of Turkey". Also known as "Everyone Will Have Computer Skills", the project has a motto: “Target: 1.000.000.” In fact, the project aims to make one million young people computer literate.
"Everyone Will Have Computer Skills" project aims to increase information technologies skills of 1.000.000 young people through European Computer Driving License training (ECDL) to be provided over the internet and make youth effective individuals in transformation into information society. Primary target audience of the project is disadvantaged young people under the age of 30. Girls and women are given special emphasis in this project.
The project not only aims to close the digital gap, but it will also help fill in the employment gap in information and communication technologies.
COMMON TRAINING MODULES ON THE INTERNET
"Empowerment of Youth for E-Transformation of Turkey" project envisages providing internet-based European Computer Driving License training to 1.000.000 young people from 81 cities, with the target of closing the digital gap in Turkey.
ECDL e-training modules consist of 7 sections that include computer theory and practice:
Module 1 - Concepts of Information Technology
Module 2 - Using the Computer and Managing Files
Module 3 - Word Processing
Module 4 - Spreadsheets
Module 5 - Database
Module 6 - Presentation
Module 7 - Information and Communication
ECDL e-training user passwords will be delivered to young people in all over Turkey by over 200 volunteer trainers of "Empowerment of Youth for Improved E-Governance in Turkey" project from 43 cities, who delivered face-to-face basic computer training since 2005 to thousands of young people, and through youth platforms founded under Turkey's Local Agenda 21 (LA-21).
Volunteer trainers will deliver basic computer training through face-to-face peer trainings to disadvantaged young people without computer and internet knowledge. Volunteer peer training team will also work as regional counseling units for supporting young people in problems that may occur during their training.
100.000 young people will be informed about innovations in information technologies and other youth activities in Turkey through the internet portal created. With the biggest training and youth network of Turkey, it is targeted that young people will contribute to project objectives through forums.
Upon reaching 1.000.000 young people who receive training over the Internet, "Empowerment of Youth for Improved E-Governance in Turkey" project will be the biggest information and communication technologies literacy project that has been implemented in Turkey.
TRAINING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
As part of the project, a training management system was created in order to assess the abilities of young people who started the training and to collect data about how the system is used by young people. The database formed in the training management system will make it possible to perform important analyses related to ICT and youth in Turkey.