Turkey to cut jobless rate to 5 pct by 2023

NEW YORK - Anatolia News Agency

Labor Minister Çelik speaks at a UN Economic and Social Council meeting. AA photo

As part of Turkey’s 2023 vision plans Turkey aims to reduce its unemployment rate to 5 percent by the year 2023, Turkey’s Labor and Social Security Minister Faruk Çelik said yesterday. 

Çelik, who has been in New York for the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) meeting, told reporters that Turkey had attended the ECOSOC meeting in representation of Europe.

“In the European Union the rate of unemployment among young people is 22.1 percent, while in Spain and Italy it is more than 50 percent. However, Turkey has succeeded in reducing the rate of unemployment for young ones to 17.4 percent in 2012,” said Çelik, mentioning that Turkey’s current unemployment figures were better than those of other countries in Europe.

Çelik stated that if the unemployment rate for youth is more than 50 percent in a country, security issues would never end in that land. 

“To ensure the safety and security, first economic and unemployment issues should be sort out,” said Çelik.

Çelik said Turkey’s unemployment figure for the younger population was 25 percent in 2009. “In the last four years, Turkey has showed great performance and now the unemployment rate has dropped to 17 percent. With the help of tourism in the summer months this number would plunge to 16 percent,” said Çelik.

Turkey has medium and long-term plans to reduce unemployment as part of Turkey’s vision plans for 2023 said Çelik.