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1. Reducing obstacles to young people's access to culture

2. Disseminating information on cultural opportunities

3. Knowledge of cultural heritage amongst young people

Reducing obstacles to young people's access to culture

Many meetings, exhibitions and screenings are held in the halls and event areas of the National Library, which are also accessible to young people. Each year, more than 100 gatherings supported by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism that contribute to the scientific and cultural life, such as conferences, seminars and panels as well as artistic activities such as classical Turkish music concerts and theater plays are organized.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism has initiated Cultural Industries Support Program named “The Future Belongs to the Young People” (Gelecek Gençlerin) to encourage entrepreneurship of young people in the field of cultural industries and to enhance their skills in producing works with innovative models in the field of culture and arts.

The general objective of the program is to support the creativity and entrepreneurship skills of young people in the cultural industries sector, thereby enabling them to contribute to the long-term development of our country's cultural industries while enhancing their personal development. The program has been designed two main axes: "Entrepreneurship" and "Producing Works with Innovative Models and focuses on culture industries and its target group is young people aged 16-29. The budget for the program is 15 million TL. More than 400 applications for the program were received from all over country and 68 projects were supported. The projects are currently ongoing and are being monitored by the General Directorate of Copyright.

Moreover, no fee is charged for the activities carried out by the Yunus Emre Institute that operates abroad, facilitating the young people’ access to culture and art.

So far, approximately 20 million people have purchased Museum Cards under the Museum Card project initiated in 2008 in order to ensure that our citizens, particularly young people, can visit museums at lower prices. Besides, MuseumPass card project was initiated to facilitate foreign visitors’ access to the cultural heritage of Türkiye. The Discounted Museum Card can be used by foreign students attending secondary education institutions in our country, as well as by foreign students enrolled in associate, undergraduate, or graduate programs at higher education institutions, teachers and Turkish citizens who are students over the age of 18.

With the “living library” approach that prioritizes user preferences and recent developments, libraries are equipped with technological innovations that will make daily lives of users easier and encourage them to visit library building more frequently, and the spatial design of libraries is enriched with new elements (such as Internet access points) that enhance participation and use. Between 2015 and 2024, 18 new-generation library buildings have been completed and put into service. Mobile libraries are available for citizens that live in areas without a library or do not have access to library services. Thus, efforts are made to improve the reading habit of young people.

The Effective Library mobile application was developed to enable users to access developments in education, culture, art and technology, as well as new service processes through mobile applications. With the Effective Library mobile application, users can:

• Register for "e-membership" at public libraries and update membership information,

• Access the collections of all public libraries throughout the country,Search for books by barcode,

• Follow new publications,

• Browse the catalog,

• Create a reading history and access information about borrowed books,

• Access announcements about events organized at public libraries throughout the country,

• Learn about the working days and hours of public libraries and communicate with them directly,

• Access to the "My e-Book" (e-Kitabım) mobile application.

In order to enhance the communication of the local community with the library and thus improve the reading and researching habits of children, young people and adults, cultural activities such as panel discussions, conferences, concerts, book reading hours, seminars, theater performances, autograph sessions are organized in the public and children’s libraries.

In fine art galleries, one of the founding purposes of which is to support young artists, courses on painting and other branches of fine arts are delivered to talented and interested people, encouraging the participation of people from various segments of the society in cultural and artistic life.

Directorate General of Education, Research and Coordination within the Ministry of Youth and Sports reprints classical books for young people to access them easily and holds seminars that will increase people’s awareness of and interest in various branches of art and culture, introducing cultural and artistic activities to young people.

The Cities Cultures-Balkans Project aimed to enhance friendly relations between Türkiye and the Balkan countries. The program covering Kosovo, North Macedonia and Albania was implemented as 6 nights and 7 days between the date of June 13 to June 19, 2022. Official visits, social and cultural activities and visits to historical and cultural sites were conducted in the mentioned countries.

Throughout the year 2023, a total of 10.972 social, cultural, and voluntary activities were organized for students staying in state-owned dormitories and a total of 879,073 students participated in these events.

Disseminating information on cultural opportunities

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is engaged in activities in the areas of opera, ballet and polyphonic music. Like people from all age groups, young people benefit from our services as well. In this context, the activities aimed at young people and/or activities in which young people are interested can be classified as follows:

Representation: Apart from those aimed at children, all pieces staged in the resident halls and tours by the State Opera and Ballet Directorates are strike young people’s fancy as well.

University events: As per the protocols concluded between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and universities, the State Opera and Ballet Directorates perform in the festivals organized by universities.

Competitions: Various activities have been organized to introduce and promote talented young individuals in the art world. The theme of the "Young Art: 9th Contemporary Project Competition," organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to support contemporary art and young artists, was inspired by the most well-known verse of Aşık Veysel, "I am on a Long and Narrow Road," in honor of 2023 being declared the "Year of Aşık Veysel" by UNESCO.

In 2023, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism organized various competitions, including the State Competition for Painting and Sculpture , the State Photography Competition, the Şefik Bursalı Painting Competition, the State Turkish Decorative Arts Competition, the Young Art: Contemporary Art Project Competition, the Young Art: Poster Design Competition, the Polyphonic Choral Composition Competition, the Young Instrumentalists Performance Competition, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Special Awards.

Educational activities: The educational activities currently organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism for primary and secondary school students are planned to be made more widespread by preparing pieces in a format suitable for high school students.    As perception and appreciation of music is shaped at early ages, students are visited at their schools and are given the opportunity to watch Training Concerts as well as to get acquainted with classic music and the main instruments of this music through entertaining and theatrical narration in order to incite the student’s sense of wonder regarding universal classical music so that they become listeners of quality music and even artists of the future.

In 2023, nearly every museum hosted guided tours, cinema screenings, drama-theater performances, various workshop activities, temporary exhibitions, seminars, and conferences, aiming to instill an appreciation for culture, art, antiquities, and history, as well as to provide opportunities for socio-cultural learning and exposure to different civilizations, cultures, languages, and artistic perspectives. These activities targeted visitors from all age groups and segments of society, with a particular focus on students in formal education institutions. A total of 720 educational activities and 58 music events were organized throughout the year.

Moreover, particular attention is paid by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to the facilitation of young people’s access to artistic activities and their involvement in the productions in preparing the repertoire of State Theaters.

122 cultural centers, in which citizens of any age actively attend conventional and modern artistic events and which reinforce the urban and cultural phenomena, ensuring that cultural values (manners and customs, handicraft, regional cuisines, etc.) are maintained through various activities (courses, shows, exhibitions, etc.) and passed down to next generations, and which were restructured as to become the cultural memory of the cities, carry out activities under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and  37 of them which have been allocated to the local administrations and other public agencies contribute to the promotion of culture and art.

Promotion materials (brochures, maps, CDs, etc.) that represent historical, cultural and artistic values are prepared with interesting contents and visuals and offered to target groups, thereby enabling citizens to realize the cultural wealth and gain knowledge of and insight into the conservation of cultural heritage.

Additionally, the "Tanışkan Project" has been launched by Yunus Emre Institute which is active on abroad " with the aim of enabling children and young people to create artworks, using new technologies such as artificial intelligence and NFTs and to create a multicultural community in this field worldwide.

Directorate General of Education, Research and Coordination within the Ministry of Youth and Sports plays an important role in attracting the attention of young people to culture and art with its publications on youth and culture.

Knowledge of cultural heritage amongst young people

By enhancing the interest of children and young people in “Battle of Gallipoli Museums and Historical Area” (Çanakkale Savaşları Müzeleri ve Tarihi Alan), the Ministry of Culture and Tourism aims to contribute to the raising of generations with sufficient self-confidence and fund of knowledge that recognize their cultural values in the globalizing world and can describe through which struggles their country have gone to make it to the present day.  In this scope, the following activities were carried out:

1-Since 2018, within the "18 March Martyrs' Day and Çanakkale Naval Victory," ceremonies and celebrations organized by the Directorate of Gallipoli Historic Site have been conducted under a specific theme to bring together and celebrate in a unified manner throughout the country since 2018. In order to ensure consistency in information, documents, designs and visuals for these ceremonies held under the designated theme, high-resolution materials can be accessed through the "www.18martetkinlikleri.com" website opened by the Directorate of Gallipoli Historic Site. Materials from the site are provided for the “Çanakkale War” corners prepared in schools nationwide within the scope of the "18 March Martyrs' Day and Çanakkale Naval Victory.”

2-Guided tours for young people who come to the Historical Area from all over Türkiye and free entry to museums operated by our Directorate is provided to ensure that the high spirit that led to the victory of the Çanakkale Battle which is the memory, belief, courage, determination, spiritual heritage and national unity and solidarity of the Turkish soldiers is passed down from generation to generation. 

3- Within the programs organized by the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities and Yunus Emre Institute provide guided tours for young people coming from abroad to the Historical Area and free entry to museums operated by our Directorate. 

4-Every year, “International Gallipoli Marathon" is held to promote historical, cultural and spiritual values of the Gallipoli Historic Area and Çanakkale on national and international scale, ensure the transmission of the spirit of Gallipoli and this heritage to future generations and enhance its brand value.

5-Every year, "Respectful Ride for Martyrs" is organized to allow young people to do sports activities in a historical and cultural environment for promoting their healthy development.

6-The Gallipoli Triathlon organized in collaboration between the Turkish Triathlon Federation and the Directorate of Gallipoli Historic Site hosts young sports enthusiasts.

7-The "Gallipoli Battles Mobile Museum” provides service by touring the entire country for citizens who have not yet visited or cannot visit Gallipoli but giving priority to young people all 81 provinces of Türkiye and deliver our historical heritage. It began its Türkiye tour on July 2, 2020. In 2024, the Gallipoli Battles Mobile Museum welcomed 149,898 visitors across 200 events held in 45 provinces and 35 districts.

8-The Çanakkale Battles Research Center which was completed and inaugurated by the Directorate of Gallipoli Historic Site in 2022 after its restoration and exhibition arrangement has become a unique point for young researchers interested in studying the Gallipoli Battles with its numerous documents, books and archives.

9-The Directorate of Gallipoli Historic Site publishes various literary works to convey the stories of Çanakkale heroes and significant events from the Gallipoli Battles to future generations.

10- The Directorate of Gallipoli Historic Site commissioned an animated film titled "Mannu in Çanakkale" to promote the historical, cultural and spiritual values of the Gallipoli Battles and Çanakkale and ensure the transfer of the Gallipoli spirit and heritage to future generations at both national and international levels.

11- Within the scope of cooperation protocol, signed to enhance mutual cooperation between Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University and our Directorate, projects such as the "Çanakkale Victory Themed Children's Song Composition Competition" and the "Compositions of Heroic Stories of Çanakkale Victory" were carried out. The successful compositions from the "Çanakkale Victory Themed Children's Song Composition Competition" were compiled into a book and presented to young art enthusiasts.

12-The Arıburnu Walking Route has been implemented and offered a social activity where history, culture and sports converge specifically for young people.

13-Attractive social media accounts have been created for the museums located in the Historical Area due to the high internet usage of  young people.

In order to contribute to the personal and cultural development of young people by enabling them to commemorate the Çanakkale martyrs that became a legend with their chivalry in the Battle of Gallipoli, particularly the 57th Infantry Regiment, and ensuring that young people travel to Çanakkale and meet their peers, the Ministry of Youth and Sports carries out the project titled  "57th Regiment Loyalty March" (57. Alay Vefa Yürüyüşü) on April 24-25 each year.Young people between 18-29 years of age can apply to the project. Those that participate in the project are taken to Çanakkale by means of the Provincial Directorates of Youth Services and Sports and their costs are borne by the Provincial Directorates. Applications to the project are received by the Provincial Directorates in person or by phone.