İŞKUR Turns Its Back on 2.3 Million Job Seekers While Preparing a 7.8 Million Lira Gala in Antalya

Turkey's Employment Agency (İŞKUR) is allocating 7 million 853 thousand 600 lira for an international conference it will hold in Antalya on October 21-22, even as 2 million 344 thousand registered job seekers await assistance from the institution. According to the specifications document obtained by Sözcü, 170 participants will be invited to İŞKUR's Southeast Europe Public Employment Institutions Conference.

The program includes a "welcome cocktail," a city tour, a Turkish music concert, and a dinner accompanied by a folklore show. An open buffet will serve savory and sweet pastries, desserts, sandwiches, nuts, and fruit; tea and coffee will be served "not in thermoses, but in porcelain and glass cups"—this note is specifically included in the specifications.

For participant transportation, at least 2023-model VIP vehicles were requested, and the preparation of 200 gift sets was made mandatory. INC Tourism is undertaking the organization.

İŞKUR's active records contain 2 million 344 thousand people, 33 thousand of whom are over 60 years old. The institution has faced criticism in recent years for similar events; a workshop it organized in Bodrum in 2023 was also brought to the agenda by the opposition as a luxury expense.

Opposition parties and education unions demanded that the issue be brought to parliament; İŞKUR did not respond to the report.