Moment of destiny for 30 youngsters
Güncelleme Tarihi:
ANKARA - Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ is a commander who knows the Southeast and its problems well. Başbuğ visited Diyarbakır just five days after taking office Aug. 31 and held a meeting with directors of 19 nongovernmental organizations. Each representative stressed the same thing, "Poverty and unemployment are provoking (teenagers’) moves to the mountains."
Başbuğ’s strategy at the press conference he held the day after was clear. "The age group that is particularly keen to join the terrorist organization is 14 to 18. If we provide a good, high-quality vocational education using the resources of the government and private establishments, it is possible to speed up the period in which we plan to paralyze the terrorist organization," he said.
A new hope was born for the unemployed, unqualified youngsters in Diyarbakır roughly one month after Başbuğ’s speech. The Diyarbakır governorship chose 30 teenagers on the request of the General Staff. These teenagers were sent to a Non-commissioned Officer School in Balıkesir on Oct. 6, and given a five-week training course in skills used in various occupations, such as those of a welder, a lathe operator and an electrician. Others were trained in bookbinding and printing.
These teenagers, hosted by the Turkish Armed Forces, earned their certificates Nov. 10 and returned to Diyarbakır. Within a week they found jobs. The General Staff considers the investment they made in these 30 teenagers as a "forerunner and model step." They plan to encourage similar projects by other organizations and the business world.