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1. Intercultural awareness

2. Young people's rights

3. Key initiatives to safeguard democracy and prevent radicalisation leading to violent extremism

Intercultural awareness

A number of policies and targets are determined to raise intercultural awareness against discrimination and social exclusion within the scope of Disadvantaged Young People and Social Inclusion and Youth in the International Arena and Intercultural Dialogue main political areas of the National Youth and Sports Policy Document and works and activities are carried out in that direction. Policies adopted within this framework and mutual activities are given below:

• To increase incentives to enable young people who live in the countryside and have limited financial opportunities to benefit from participation opportunities in international activities; in that respect, it is facilitated that disadvantaged young people are involved in intercultural amalgamation programmes by implementing disadvantageousness criteria in overseas culture and mobilisation projects carried out and supported by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
• To produce projects in order to increase the cooperation with youth and student associations active in the international area; the Ministry of Youth and Sports provides grants to the projects which are proposed to raise the international awareness of young people in the international arena provided that they meet the criteria.
• To use youth exchange programmes actively to provide inter-cultural interaction; numerous public organisations and institutions support youth exchange programmes.
• To organise international youth camps by bringing together young people from different countries and to enable young people from different cultures to spend time together; the Ministry of Youth and Sports organises International Youth Camps in which young people from various countries participate and make friends and socialise.
• To increase the participation of young foreign people studying in Turkey in youth activities and thus to help them to socialise with our young people; the Ministry of Youth and Sports carries out the Damla Project in which domestic and international students studying in Turkey visit the historical and cultural places in Turkey and interact with the local people and have the chance to practice their theoretical knowledge following the trainings on volunteering, humanity, goodness, empathy, self-sacrifice, mysticism, environment and youth.
• “We are a Team Project” is carried out by the Ministry of Youth and Sports in order to support the youth with limited opportunities from different socio-cultural backgrounds through sports and awareness trainings, and to contribute to the social trust environment, consensus and sports culture of our country. In 2020-2021, 14-week events were held with the participation of 650 students at the ages of 12 to 15 and 65 volunteer trainers from 7 provinces, namely Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Diyarbakir, Mardin, Kocaeli and Burdur. With the participation of 650 students and their families, make-up training camps were held at the facilities of Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University. During the project, which will be implemented again in 2021 - 2022, this time, firstly they will take a different course after the sports and social cohesion trainings in which 1,056 girls and boys in 6th and 7th grades studying in different schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in 24 provinces will attend 4 hours a week for 14 weeks under the supervision of selected trainers, and then they will come together in a different city at a meeting and activity camp.
• International youth camps are organized in cooperation with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF). In 2021, 120 participants from 40 different countries were selected for our camp. During the camp, it is aimed to equip young people working in the field of volunteering with practical knowledge and guidance in order to help and support communities during natural disasters, epidemics and humanitarian crises. In addition, workshops were organized within the scope of raising awareness for young people on the universal values of volunteering.
• Within the scope of PIKTES, informative seminars/trainings are organized for foreign nationals and Turkish students studying together in public schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education to increase intercultural awareness and to ensure the integration of students. Guidelines are prepared for in-class practices to contribute to teachers' basic teaching skills and competencies. Social cohesion activities are organized for the integration of students and parents.
• Turks and Syrians participate in vocational courses in interaction through the projects of the Ministry of National Education General Directorate of Lifelong Learning, targeting Syrians under Temporary Protection over the age of 18 and Turks in need (“Increasing Access of Syrians under Temporary Protection to Turkish Language Education and Vocational Education Project”, “Socio-Economic Empowerment and Sustainability Program” and “Project for Increasing Employability for Syrians and Host Communities in the Renewable Energy Sector”).
• Within the framework of the cooperation protocol between the General Directorate of Migration Management and the General Directorate of Lifelong Learning of the Ministry of National Education, with the aim of facilitating the adaptation of all adult foreigners (17-65 years old) who have the right to stay in the social, economic and cultural life in our country, the 8-hour "Social Cohesion and Life Course" Program" has been developed. The program is carried out through public education centres. The trainings are given by permanent teachers or master trainers working in public education centres in a flexible model, on weekdays or evenings and weekends, taking into account the social life of foreigners. The program is given in the languages needed, especially in Turkish, Arabic and Persian, accompanied by an interpreter. It covers the subjects of Cultural Structure of Turkey, Traditions and Customs, General Ethics and Public Life Rules, Social Life Rules, Rights and Obligations, Information on Social Life, Education and Health Opportunities, Legal Issues and Access to Livelihoods. In this context, the pilot implementation of the trainings planned to be held in 81 provinces was started in Istanbul on 26.10.2019. Currently, trainers' trainings have been completed and trainings continue in the provinces of İstanbul, İzmir, Bursa, Ordu, Karabük, Çankırı, Yozgat, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Ankara and Adana. As of 20.10.2021, a total of 106,476 people, 53,856 women and 52,620 men, completed the training

Young people's rights

In the context of raising awareness of young people in relation to human rights and generalising the human rights perception among young people in Turkey; public organisations, local administrations, universities and nongovernmental organisations have numerous projects, programmes and activities.

In relation to individual application mechanism of the Constitutional Court, informative documents are posted on the website. Similarly, Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey has provided public access to the application platform for violation of human rights and databank service. There are detailed information regarding e-application methods on the Ombudsman Institution website.

Key initiatives to safeguard democracy and prevent radicalisation leading to violent extremism

The Project of Strengthening the Culture of Democracy in Basic Education with the co-financing of the European Union and the Council of Europe, of which the Ministry of National Education General Directorate of Basic Education is the beneficiary, started to be implemented on 3 August 2018 and will end on 2 November 2022. The goal of the Project is to strengthen democratic school culture practices. With the project, it is aimed to strengthen the democratic culture practices in the society in general by including all the staff and families working in the schools, as well as the students attending the basic education institutions (pre-school, primary and secondary school students). Within the scope of the project, materials containing Democratic Culture Competencies (DKY) at all levels for basic education students were developed and made available to students and teachers. Moreover; including school administration, teachers, school staff, students, parents and families, The Holistic School Model (BOM), which brings together all the stakeholders that make up the school, is developed and pilot studies are implemented in 2021-2022. This Model is implemented within the scope of the project; It is a guide created to include all relevant stakeholders in the education of children, to increase the knowledge of teachers and school administrators within the scope of DKY, briefly, to strengthen the democratic environment and practices in schools. Within the scope of the project, 3000 teachers in 10 pilot provinces were trained on Democratic Culture Competencies through 240 trainers. Policies will be developed for the dissemination of the Project results in the light of the data to be obtained from the pilot implementation.

Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States (Turkic Council) and United Nations Alliance of Civilisations have hosted an international conference on “The Role of the Youth Sector in Preventing Violent Extremism” in İstanbul on 20-21 October 2016.

Ministers from various countries, top level executives from UN Development Program (UNDP) and other specialised organisations of UN, specialists from international organisations including OSCE, government officials, representatives of nongovernmental organisations and academicians have met up with 200 young leaders from over 30 countries from Africa to Asia and they have discussed the ways and methods to strengthen the role of youth in preventing violent extremism.