The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) announced its election declaration for the Turkish Diaspora Saturday, promising support to citizens in various fields including education and in the fight against xenophobia.
For the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections on June 24, AK Party published its election declaration for citizens living abroad.
In it, the party highlighted that its support to the Turkish diaspora will be institutionalized. Accordingly, the AK Party will establish a permanent committee in Parliament for the Turkish diaspora. A coordination council for Turks living abroad will be established in order to enable ministries to function efficiently.
The Head of the Electoral Coordination Center Abroad, Mustafa Yeneroğlu stressed in a press release on June 2 that Turkish diaspora will continue to be a priority for AK Party in the next term and gave information about the upcoming projects for Turks living abroad.
The plans in the field of education stand out. The significance of learning Turkish and protecting the cultural identity is also underscored. Bilingual schools, starting from preschool, will be encouraged and support for projects teaching Turkish will be increased.
In the document, it is also stated that more Turkish libraries will be opened. It is also highlighted that the internship opportunities in Turkey and scholarships for Turkish students living abroad will be increased as well. Accordingly, 100,000 Turkish youth will be visiting the country and will be introduced to Turkish history and culture.
The election declaration also underlined that in the face of xenophobia and Islamophobia, an efficient fight will be conducted to protect Turkish people from discrimination. AK Party also promised reconstructing TRT Türk and supporting Turkish media abroad.
The Supreme Election Council (YSK) previously announced the number of voters living abroad as 3,490,065. Turkish people living abroad will start casting their votes on June 7 in 60 countries. The Turkish people will be able to vote in Turkey's foreign missions from June 7 to June 19 and at border gates from June 7 to June 24.
As Germany holds the largest number of Turkish diaspora, electorates will cast their votes in 13 poll centers. Following Germany, in the U.S., there will be seven points for casting votes. The high number of electorates abroad urged political parties to accelerate efforts to present their projects and plans to the electorates.