Internship and apprenticeship insurance victims: They are not giving up, even though the Minister says 'it is not on our agenda'!

Şenol ÇARIK - 12punto.com.tr

Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan made a statement regarding the issue eagerly awaited by internship and apprenticeship insurance victims, who have been struggling for a long time to have their 4A registration date at the start of their internship counted as their initial employment date, as well as those seeking phased retirement, stating, "We do not have any work on our agenda regarding internship victims and phased retirement."

The statement was met with backlash from associations and federations of Internship and Apprenticeship Victims, as well as members of EMADDER (Association for Justice in Retirement), who are fighting for phased retirement. Thousands of posts were seen, particularly on social media.

Semiha Özek, President of the İzmir Internship and Apprenticeship Insurance Victims Association, told 12punto, "Minister Işıkhan's words did not dampen our morale. We are not giving up; we will continue even more strongly. We will continue to say 'we want our rights' everywhere!"

Özek recalled that during President Erdoğan's rally in Adana, he responded to a group of internship and apprenticeship insurance victims chanting, "Good news for interns, good news for apprentices," by saying, "We will give... We will give even more good news."

Stating that they frequently repeat their demands at rally squares and convey them to government officials, Özek added that yesterday, CHP Niğde Deputy Ömer Fethi Gürer and Konya Deputy Barış Bektaş held a press conference at the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) with the President of the Internship and Apprenticeship Victims Federation and provincial branch presidents, and expressed their support for them.

News Source: Şenol Çarık