Delegate: Mr. Orhan Esad Akgun
8. Mr. Akgun (Turkey), speaking as a youth delegate, said that Turkish youth attached great importance to the World Programme of Action for Youth, which allowed them to speak out on matters such as unemployment. Although unemployment had fallen in Turkey in recent years and youth unemployment was being addressed, more remained to be done. Since the best way of tackling unemployment was through education, he was pleased to report that higher education fees had been abolished in Turkey and opportunities were increasing by the day. [*3*]
9. Governments should improve youth representation. The Turkish Ministry of Youth and Sport had been established in 2011 partly to improve youth representation within the administration. To enhance the democratic participation of young people, the Government had reduced the minimum age of electoral candidates from 30 to 25, and a further reduction to 18 was being discussed, showing the Government’s willingness to rely on younger people.
10. Turkish young people were committed to human rights and democracy, and supported global action on climate change. Turkish youth associations had organized campaigns to raise awareness of global warming and the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20).
UN Doc.: A/C.3/67/SR.4
Cite as:
UN Doc.: A/C.3/67/SR.4, 24 December 2012, p. 2-3, Youth Delegate Search: https://youthdelegatesearch.org/turkey-2012/, doi: 10.17176/20221018-193720-0.