Türkiye's Yunus Emre Institute seeks to alleviate the concerns of hundreds of Ukrainian children who were evacuated to the country amid the Russia-Ukraine war. The institute’s head, professor Şeref Ateş, said they were working to help their personal development and ensure their happiness far from home.
“We are organizing events, particularly culture and arts activities for them,” Ateş said.
The institute, Türkiye's flagship agency for Turkish language education abroad, also provides education for more than 1,200 orphans evacuated from Ukraine to the southern province of Antalya, a popular destination for Ukrainian nationals.
“A large number of Turkology specialists from Ukraine also took shelter in Türkiye and with their assistance, we prepared educational materials for Ukrainians here,” he told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Monday.
He said Türkiye placed more importance on Ukraine as the war prolonged and noted that there was a vast presence of Turkic communities in the war-torn country. “We organize activities both for children and adults and our purpose is maintaining ties with this community through culture and arts,” he said.
Since the conflict erupted, 988 orphans and 392 carers and custodians have been brought to the country thanks to the efforts led by the two countries’ first ladies. Across Türkiye, the Ministry of Family and Social Services strives to provide them shelter and psychiatric/social support to help them overcome the trauma of displacement. The first group of orphans and their carers arrived in Türkiye on March 25, a few weeks after the conflict broke out. Eight more groups of orphans arrived later. They are accommodated in hotels in Antalya and Muğla and the northwestern province of Sakarya. The government addresses all the needs of the orphans and others evacuated to the country. The ministry assigns staff who are able to communicate with the orphans in their native language and regularly conduct interviews to address their problems. The ministry’s social aid and solidarity foundations, normally tasked with assisting disadvantaged communities, take care of the orphans, including overseeing regular health checks. The children are also provided with stationery so they can resume their education.
Türkiye already has experience in helping children affected by conflicts, as the country hosts the largest refugee population from neighboring Syria. Along with regular aid, the country helped thousands of children from Syria to enroll in education.
