Speeches

Remarks by Ambassador Edelman and the Minister of National Education at the Hüseyin Güllü Ceylan Primary School

Ankara, Turkey February 23, 2005

AMBASSADOR EDELMAN: Sayın Bakan, first of all, thank you very much for taking the time out of your very busy schedule to join us today. It is great for me to have an opportunity to be here in Altındağ and to be able to visit this school. Two weeks, along with some colleagues from the Finance Ministry and the World Bank, I signed a grant agreement which provided nine million dollars to the World Bank for a program to help support the Social Risk Mitigation Project here in Turkey, which works to keep children, especially young girls, in school. We are very, very happy to support that program and I am happy to have an opportunity today to be here at a school which has been a beneficiary of the program and to meet with some of the students and their parents.

When I talk around the country about U.S.-Turkish relations, I frequently speak about the shared values and shared principles which I think underpin that relationship. One of those principles, although we do not talk about it all that often, is that every child should have the opportunity, no matter what their social or economic, religious or ethnic background, to have the best possible education. That is what President Bush believes, that is what we have implemented in the United States with the No Child Left Behind law, and it is what we believe should happen in other countries. I know that the Minister believes that too, and that is why we are happy to support this project. I don’t really want to go any greater length since I spoke about this project at the signing ceremony, but I am looking forward to hearing the Minister’s remarks.

MINISTER OF NATIONAL EDUCATION: Mr. Ambassador, distinguished media members, I would also like to express, like the Ambassador of the United States, Mr. Edelman, that I am very glad to be here today with our beloved children, their parents and esteemed teachers. As you know, there is a project which is carried out by the World Bank in collaboration with the Turkish authorities, and this project is largely funded by grants coming from the developed countries. The U.S. Congress has allocated nine million dollars for this project this year. I would like to thank Mr. Ambassador, who represents here the President of the United States and the U.S. Congress. As a person responsible for the education of our children, I would like to offer my thanks to you here. In fact, our government has taken very big steps in mitigating social risk. As you know, in 2003 and 2004, we delivered free schoolbooks to our children in primary schools. These schoolbooks cost us approximately 200 million new Turkish Lira (YTL). Today, that is about 160 to 170 million U.S. dollars, which is a very large amount when compared with the amount mentioned here. Our government has taken this step to provide major support to families with low incomes and to increase the quality of education. In addition, preparations to deliver free school books to our children next year continue. The conditional cash transfer and the grants coming for the Social Risk Mitigation Project aim to encourage families with low incomes to send their children to school, and meet at least some of their expenses. This is a contribution that should not be underestimated. We give free school books. In addition, when boys are sent to school for primary education, we pay 18 YTL, and when girls are sent we pay 22 YTL into their mothers’ accounts. In secondary education, we pay 28 YTL for boys and 39 YTL for girls. This is discrimination in favor of girls. As I have expressed many times before, our government is against all kinds of discrimination. Yet, when it comes to education, I believe there should be some discrimination in favor of girls. When the necessary resources are obtained, we will build YIBOs (Regional Boarding Schools for Primary Education) and hostels for girls. In this way, we will prevent girls from dropping out of school after primary education, and more and more girls will become students. We are here today to convey this to the public more broadly and to see an example of it. In Altındağ alone, 3126 families are supported under this project. There are more than 6000 applications, half of which are funded. The criteria for choosing families are their income level and whether they are really in need. I would like to express my thanks again to everyone who has contributed to this project – the World Bank; the United States, which allocated nine million dollars for this project; the Turkish authorities; provincial governors; and directors of education – for their sensitivity. Five representative families are here with us today. These ladies here benefit from these practices in the name of their children. Also, on behalf of my ministry and the Government, I would like to thank our media for their support for and interest in this project.

QUESTION: I would like to ask Mr. Ambassador a question. The U.S. Government is contributing to the solution of a problem in Turkish society through this project. Anti-Americanism is a hot topic these days. Do you plan to support more projects like this to decrease the tension?

AMBASSADOR EDELMAN: As I said in my opening remarks, education is an important priority not only for the U.S. but for most other countries in the world, certainly including Turkey. We certainly want to be able to do what we can to be helpful within the limits of our own government budget. I am hopeful that we will be able to continue to support such projects in the future. Since we rely on congressional funding from year to year, I cannot make any commitments, but certainly this is the kind of thing that we believe is extremely important to help sustain the relationship between our two countries.

MINISTER OF NATIONAL EDUCATION: At this point I would like to add something. As you know, Fulbright Scholarships have been provided by the U.S. for students, especially masters-level students, in Turkey for many years. The budget for this scholarship program was 1.2 million dollars per year, but this year it has been increased to 1.7 million dollars, and it may be gradually increased to 4 million dollars in the future. I have been officially invited to the U.S. as the Minister of National Education between March 5 and 13 to discuss this issue. During the visit, we will have interviews with officials from the Fulbright Program and with the educational authorities in the U.S. Another point is that I think our media should understand the difference between the relations between our two countries and the feelings of the people in the streets. As the Prime Minister has clearly expressed by many means before, there is no tension between the U.S. and Turkey as two governments, two countries, and two allies. I am not really authorized to speak on this subject, but as a member of the Cabinet, I would like to express this.

QUESTION: (inaudible)

AMBASSADOR EDELMAN: I think that what the Minister said speaks to that issue. Certainly Dr. Rice had an extremely productive and constructive visit here. And I think our relations are moving forward on that basis. It is a very broad relationship that covers a variety of areas, including the one that we are discussing today, education. As the Minister just noted, there is substantial increase in Fulbright funding. He will be going to the United States to talk about that. That is just one indication of the fact that this is a relationship that is important to both countries in a variety of areas – political, economic, and social. It is important for both governments to recognize the breadth of the relationship and to support it because, ultimately, the relationship depends on public support from both countries. That is why the Minister and I are here today.