Minister Tekin: “250 million books on our children’s tables each year”

At the 8th Ordinary Congress of the AK Party Ahlat held in Ahlat district of Bitlis, Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin stated that they have made significant progress in education during the AK Party governments, saying, “Our schools have five-star school comfort. There is no school without internet infrastructure. Each year, 250 million books are on our children’s desks.”

Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin attended the 8th Ordinary Congress of the AK Party Ahlat held in the Ahlat district of Bitlis. In his remarks on the agenda, Minister Tekin reacted to the genocide committed by Israel in Palestine and Lebanon. He prayed for the souls of Hamas Political Bureau Presidents Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, who were martyred as a result of Israeli assassinations, and recited Fatiha for them.

“We have lived in a period in politics where the lives of our politicians became the subject of comedy films. You must have watched Kemal Sunal’s ‘Zübükzade’.”

In his speech, Tekin pointed out that there was chaos in the country before the AK Party government and that politicians were made to resign from their parties for money to bring down governments, saying, “We forget things very quickly. We perceive the comfort zone we live in, the level of prosperity we are in, as if Turkey has always been like this. Therefore, I want to mention a few things about the achievements. What kind of Turkey were we living in before the AK Party? Let’s refresh our memories. After 2001, a period of incredible stability in politics emerged in Turkey. Between 1971 and 1980, there were 11 government changes in a period of approximately 10 years. Between 1990 and 2001, there were also 11 government changes. You might ask what this has to do with us. Here’s the connection: You go to bed one night with a cabinet in place. The next morning, you wake up and hear that the government has collapsed because a parliament member transferred to another political party for money. You know there were parliament members wandering from party to party in the 1990s. You are aware of the existence of parliament members who resigned from their parties to bring down the government. For example, we lived in a country where overnight repo rates rose to 7,500% due to instability in the 1990s. What does this government instability cause? If there is instability in the government, the quality of life for the people is negatively affected. One of the most important aspects that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and our esteemed President have brought to our country is the period of stability we experienced. Between 1990 and 2001, political murders and terrorist incidents in Turkey were rampant. We used to wake up every morning to a sensational terrorist incident. Sometimes it was individual terrorism; a journalist, a politician, or a former minister was martyred or killed. Sometimes it was a soldier or societal movements that could seep into the capillaries of society. We experienced events like Başbağlar and the Sivas incidents during those days. If I were to list the political murders that occurred from 1990 to 2001, you would truly see how we lived in Turkey by refreshing your memories. Alongside this, I remember very well what we experienced in healthcare during those years. Friends, I vividly remember going to the hospital in the morning and waiting in line for hours. We would get out of that line. We would then wait in line again for tests, examinations, or similar procedures. If we were lucky, we would get examined by a doctor, and if we could later show our results, we would then face another line waiting for medication. If you needed medication, you waited in front of the pharmacy as long as you waited for the doctor. Now, friends, we live in a Turkey that cannot be compared with those years in terms of healthcare services. We have lived in a period in politics where the lives of our politicians became the subject of comedy films. You must have watched Kemal Sunal’s ‘Zübükzade’. Politicians transferred for gold became a topic of public discussion. The reputation of politics has been shattered,” he said.

“All of our schools have internet infrastructure and we provide internet access services in all our schools.”

In his statement, Minister Tekin emphasized that with the AK Party government, the construction quality and comfort of schools are akin to five-star hotels, saying, “All of our schools have internet infrastructure and we provide internet access services in all our schools. Additionally, we have smart boards in our schools, and our children can access the data we upload to EBA. We now live in such a Turkey. So who did this? Our President did. But the real heroes are the people in this hall. If you had not believed in our President and had not supported him, he could not have done these things. Our country could not have gained these. In other words, the future we draw for our children and young people will be a vision of the future that will allow them to undertake exemplary work in this regard. I will do these as the Minister of National Education. You will support this as the cauldron of the AK Party that feeds politics. We can turn the upcoming century into the Century of Turkey. In this journey, both you and we have responsibilities,” he expressed.

Stating that he has been in politics since the 1983 elections, Tekin said, “Sometimes they gave us microphones to talk during the elections, sometimes they gave us posters to hang, and sometimes we gave speeches at academic meetings. But let me say this: The most comfortable period we have worked in is the current one. We have a vast area of achievement we can show that demonstrates what we have done and express what we will do. I wish I could share with you pre-2002 Turkey and Turkey between 2002-2024. Look, we forget these things very quickly. When I was a high school student, we used to go to stationery stores to pay money to buy a textbook. We would go every evening after school to check when the book would arrive. We remember the period when our books did not arrive even after the first semester ended. Now, do you know what we do? Each year, 250 million books are on our children’s desks on September 9,” he said.

At the congress, AK Party Bitlis Deputy Turan Bedirhanoğlu, AK Party Bitlis Provincial Chairman Kadir Köstekçi, AK Party Bitlis Provincial Coordinator and also 27th Term Van Deputy Abdulahat Arvas, Bitlis Mayor Nesrullah Tanğlay, Ahlat Mayor Yavuz Gülmez, and AK Party Ahlat District Chairman Mesut Subaşı also gave greeting speeches.