Türkiye’s only fair exclusively catering to people with disabilities started on Thursday in Istanbul. Minister of Family and Social Service Derya Yanık inaugurated the 12th edition of the Accessibility Fair, officially named "Eyaf Expo" (an acronym for Life Without Obstacles Fair). The fair is also home to an Awareness Summit for discussion of challenges people with disabilities face.
Minister Yanık said events like the fair that bring together special products, technologies or services for people with disabilities on a national and international level were essential to address the needs of the community.
"An all-inclusive approach which does not exclude any part of society is the basis for social development. In this context, we prioritize the elimination of any discrimination toward any individual. All members of society should feel safe and have equal opportunities. This was and will be our vision while shaping our social policies. As the government, we diversify our work based on needs, in order to assist people with disabilities and elderly citizens to have full, independent and efficient access to social life. Every event facilitating this is significant," she said.
"We are determined to remove physical, legal and social obstacles our citizens face with our policies embracing all members of society, focused on individuals and based on rights. Türkiye is one of the first countries that signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities," the minister said. She added that accessibility was one of the basic human rights. "It is extremely important to keep everything, from education and health care to sports, culture and arts, travel and digital platforms, all services and venues accessible. For its part, Türkiye enacted its first law specifically for people with disabilities in 2005 and set up legislation on this issue. An amendment in 2012 to this law ensured the effective implementation of accessibility rules. Inspections after implementation allowed us to certify buildings, public spaces and mass transportation vehicles as 'accessible.' By September this year, we granted 2,861 accessibility certificates," she outlined.
Though social inclusion is viewed as key to improving the lives of people with disabilities, they often face obstacles in accessibility. For instance, a lack of ramps for wheelchairs and cars parked in parking spaces for the disabled or in lanes on sidewalks designated for disabled citizens hinders accessibility for many.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared 2020 as the Year of Accessibility, and the government stepped up efforts toward that goal, drafting new policies and regulations. The Ministry of Family and Social Services spearheaded the efforts, including new rules for accessibility everywhere from shopping malls, airports and public buildings to gyms and bus terminals. The ministry also issued a new set of guidelines for the inspection of compliance with accessibility rules. Committees set up in every province monitor revisions to buildings and vehicles to ensure accessibility.
The four-day event, the sixth of its kind in the world, aims to introduce visitors to the latest accessibility technologies as well as to raise awareness for the challenges faced by the disabled community in daily life.
The event is sponsored by the Presidency, the Ministry of Family and Social Services, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), business chambers and Daily Sabah.
Organizers say they aim to introduce visitors to technologies, commercial solutions and other services to minimize the barrier to accessing health and rehabilitation services for people with disabilities and contribute to their integration into all areas of social life.