Zafer Party reacts to 'Gaza students' decision: We were left in the background again

In the November 17 issue of the Official Gazette, a decision signed by President Erdoğan was published stating, "For the 2023-2024 Academic Year Spring Semester, the tuition fees that must be paid by associate and undergraduate students whose families or themselves reside in the city of Gaza, Palestine, and who are enrolled in formal education programs at any state higher education institution, shall be covered by the state."

"WE HAVE MADE EDUCATION FREE AGAIN"

Reacting to the decision in a written statement, Zafer Party Deputy Chairman Esmaül Hüsna Aslan stated that Turkish youth were "left in the background" once again, failing to receive the value they deserve.

Emphasizing the housing and nutrition problems faced by university students, Aslan included the following remarks in her written statement following the decision:

"When we woke up one morning, we saw that Turkish youth, the future generations of this country, had been pushed to the background again. While thousands of students in our country cannot enroll in university due to lack of money, while those who do enroll face housing problems, and while we wake up every day to news of another elevator accident, we have once again made education free for non-Turkish communities!"

"LET'S SEE WHAT STATE OUR OWN CHILDREN ARE IN"

They said they would eliminate bureaucracy in the new system. Well, there is no need for bureaucracy for these types of decisions. With a single signature, we can learn that non-Turkish people can study for free in our country.

While we continue to keep our country's doors wide open to non-Turkish people and make all of life free for them, let's see what state the own children of our homeland, the bright generations of our future, are in?

"105 THOUSAND STUDENTS COULD NOT ENROLL"

We know that 105 thousand 772 students could not go to university last year due to lack of money. We do not have this year's data yet, but all our experience shows that these figures will not decrease but will grow. Are we taking precautions to prevent this from growing? No!

Last year, 105 thousand 772 students, 86 thousand 975 in state universities and 18 thousand 977 in foundation universities, could not enroll despite winning a place at a university. Did our state come out and say in the Official Gazette, "We will cover the expenses of students who could not enroll"? No!

"IT HAPPENED TO OUR FUTURE AGAIN"

The number of students who earned the right to be placed in a university but did not enroll in school was 10 thousand in 2020, while this number rose to 47 thousand in 2021 and 106 thousand in 2022. So, was anything done about this, was a solution sought? No!

While what happened again happened to Turkish youth and our future, those who are not Turkish became the ones who benefited the most from the resources of this state."