Minister of Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu stated that 2 million and 474 thousand people received face to face disaster training since the beginning of this year adding that Turkey ranks among the leading countries in terms of disaster management.

Minister Soylu attended the ceremony organized at the AFAD headquarters on the occasion of” Disaster Training Cooperation Protocol with Tradesmen and Artisans, Workers and State Officers.

Soylu signed cooperation protocols with the Chairman of  the Confederation of Turkish Tradesmen and Craftsmen (TESK) Bendevi Palandöken, Chairman of Memur-Sen Ali Yalçın, Chairman of Turkish Public Workers Union (Kamu-Sen) Önder Kahveci and Chairman of  the Confederation of Workers' Trade Unions Ergün Atalay.

Soylu said during his speech at the ceremony, “Turkey has an important place in disaster management and it is among the leading countries in terms of measures that should be taken before, during and after the disasters.

Noting that 2021 was declared as the “Disaster Training Year”, Selçuk stated that the Ministry aims at reaching 51 million people.

Soylu said that 81 governors and 11127 local administrators have received disaster training till now and went on to say:

“Since January 1, 2 million and 474 thousand people received face to face training. This is an important figure but it is still the beginning. We have given training programs to 1 million, 15 thousand and 100 people through social media. We also have mobile simulation trucks used at schools. We have provided training to approximately 20 thousand visitors.”

TESK Chairman Bendevi Palandöken expressed his happiness to work with AFAD adding that, “I want to say that you are doing a divine duty. AFAD will become an example for the world.”

Meanwhile, Memur-Sen Chairman Ali Yalçın stressed everybody in the society has a responsibility in the disaster management and stated, “It is important to see that Turkey has been prioritizing preventive measures as a part of disaster management. Cheapest way to defend our country is to organize training programs. Cheapest way of protection from disasters is disaster training programs.”

Kamu-Sen Genel Chairman Önder Kahveci stressed the examplery performance AFAD displayed in recent years and added, “Disasters and earthquakes are the realities of our country. We are ready to in any way possible to raise disaster awareness among the public.”

Finally, Türk-İş Genel Chairman Ergün Atalay said that he was in Adapazarı when the devastating earthquake took place on August 17, 1999.

Stating that Turkey had suffered a lot during that period, Atalay said that Turkey came a long way since then.