Ministry announces! The number of Turkish citizens living abroad has been revealed

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yasin Ekrem Serim spoke at the Capacity Building and Training Workshop of the Union of International Democrats (UID), held at a hotel in the Kızılcahamam district of Ankara.

In his speech, Serim shared data regarding Turkey's foreign policy and the ministry's efforts concerning Turkish citizens living abroad.

Accordingly, 7.5 million Turkish citizens live abroad, with 6.5 million of them residing in Western Europe.

THERE ARE 2,245 MEMBERS OF TURKISH ORIGIN IN MUNICIPAL COUNCILS

As of April 2024, there are 2,427 politicians of Turkish origin across Europe.

At the government level, there are 2 ministers and 2 state secretaries; 7 serve in the European Parliament, 69 at the national and federal level, 102 at the state and regional level, and 2,245 members of Turkish origin serve in municipal councils.

1,558 RELIGIOUS OFFICIALS ARE SERVING AS OF APRIL

Within the framework of the decisions of the Inter-ministerial Joint Culture Commission (BOAKK), as of April 2024, 1,707 teachers and 141 lecturers are serving abroad.

Within the framework of BOAKK decisions, 1,558 religious officials are also serving abroad as of April.

THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF CONSULAR SERVICES WERE PROVIDED IN EUROPE

More than 70 types of consular services are provided to Turkish citizens abroad, primarily including birth, military service, marriage, legal matters, death, notary, and civil registry services.

While the number of consular services provided by Turkey's foreign missions was 131 thousand in 2002, this figure reached 3.3 million in 2023, and nearly 1 million transactions have been carried out since the beginning of this year.

While the highest number of consular services were provided in Europe, 272 thousand 729 transactions were carried out in Germany alone in April.

Last year, a total of 74 "mobile consular services" were provided in 59 different cities, and 22 have been provided in 22 cities since the beginning of the year.

VOTING PROCESS IN ELECTIONS ABROAD

The appointment system was abolished for elections held abroad, and the distinction between representative offices for the voting process was ended.

The number of voting days, booths, and ballot boxes was increased, and the way was paved for setting up more ballot boxes on weekends.

In the last elections, for the first time, ballot boxes were opened in 16 cities across 9 countries where there is no representative office.

While a total of 3,163 ballot boxes were opened in 123 representative offices in 60 countries during the 2018 Presidential Election, 1 million 839 thousand 470 citizens cast their votes in 5,144 ballot boxes opened in 151 representative offices in 73 countries during the Presidential and 28th Term Parliamentary General Elections on May 14, 2023.

The participation rate, which was 18.94 percent in the 2014 Presidential Election, rose to 56.34 percent in the second round of the 2023 Presidential Election.