Social Risk Map Studies Continue
The Turkish director of Romani origin, Elmas ARUS, who won the humanitarian aid award organized in the name of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg at the Council of Europe, came to Elazığ to contribute to the social risk map studies.
Director Elmas ARUS, who came to Elazığ to contribute to the studies on identifying the problems of our Romani citizens living in our province within the scope of the “Social Risk Map” studies implemented by Governor Ömer Faruk KOÇAK, visited the Head of the European Union Department of the Ministry of Health Dr. Elif Ekmekçi, representatives of the Romani living in Tunceli and Elazığ Halil Gerçek and Yılmaz ESER, Governor Ömer FARUK KOÇAK.
Governor Ömer Faruk KOÇAK, who made an assessment during the visit; Elmas ARUS is the first producer to receive the humanitarian aid award organized in the name of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg with the film “BUÇUK”, which he made about the problems of our Romani citizens in Turkey. Dr. Ms. Elif EKMEKÇİ is the Head of the European Union Department of the General Directorate of International Relations and the European Union of the Ministry of Health, with whom we have been conducting relations with the European Union at the Ministry of Health for 4.5 years. Both of them came here upon the invitation of our Governorship to share with us the experiences of the work they have done so far regarding the problems and difficulties experienced by our Romani citizens living in our province, to visit the places where our Romani citizens live and to identify their problems on site, and to carry out the work that will largely take place in the Social Risk Map that we have previously initiated. I would like to thank Elmas ARUS, who came here and participated in the work despite having just returned to Turkey after receiving her award. We will work together with both her and our citizens living here to produce solutions to eliminate disadvantages as much as we can.”
Stating that the social risk work initiated in Elazığ will make a significant contribution to their own work, Dr. Elif Ekmekçi, Head of the European Union Department of the Ministry of Health, said; The reason we are here is to add a new and most important one to the works of the Public-NGO dialogue group that we started with the participation of 4 ministries and 32 civil society organizations chaired by Elmas ARUS for our Romani citizens. With the support of our Governor, we had the opportunity to present the works that have been ongoing for 2 years to the entire European Union and the European Union Commission. However, we had not been able to implement the works we have been doing at the ministry center until now. With the great contribution of the works started here, we will be able to implement them in Elazığ and achieve positive results. The works carried out in Elazığ with the support and contributions of the World Health Organization constitute a very important basis for our works.”
Elmas ARUS, who came to Elazığ to meet with Romani citizens living in Elazığ, thanked Governor KOÇAK for inviting them to Elazığ and said, “I am very happy and proud to be a part of this work that will be done to eliminate the disadvantaged situations of disadvantaged groups, which is the basis of our works. We had consulted with our Governor on the Public-NGO dialogue group project as a zero discrimination association in the public sector. We thought that the local leg of this project should also be continued and we carried out studies in 5 provinces in 2013. However, we saw that the studies we carried out did not have a local equivalent. The fact that our Governor initiated this study and showed its equivalent motivated and excited us. Romani people became seriously visible with the Romani initiative. However, it is very important for us to make the problems of Romani people living in Elazığ visible and to implement this solution within the framework of cooperation with public institutions. He stated that this cooperation is a study that can be an example for many provinces in Turkey.
During the visit, Halil Gerçek and Yılmaz ESER, representatives of Romani people living in Tunceli and Elazığ, also provided information about the problems of Romani people.
04.02.2014
