Building Turkey’s Secular Future Through One Literate Girl at a Time
The Association in Support of Contemporary Living (Cagdas Yasami Destekleme Dernegi, CYDD) is undeniably the largest and the most progressive non-governmental organization in Turkey. It can even be called a giant in its field with its ambitious projects and its successful implementations. CYDD’s offices are located in three old raw houses donated by an appreciative Turkish businessman. The president of CYDD is the legendary Prof. Dr. Turkan Saylan whom I had the pleasure of visiting last summer in her organization’s headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey. Several of us were to deliver containers of clothing, toys, and educational materials donated by the Ataturk Society of America for rural children.

I first met Prof. Saylan when she came to Washington DC to receive the Ataturk Award in Education & Modernization in 2001 from the Ataturk Society of America. She was very impressive. She did not waste a single minute during her stay, but buried her head in her papers, taking short breaks only to sip her coffee. She is a true daughter of Ataturk, a serious and hard working citizen dedicated to the betterment of her nation. In CYDD, I was looking forward to talking with her at length, meeting her staff and seeing first hand the workings of a very successful Turkish NGO-one that currently sponsors 34 educational projects ranging from building schools, dormitories, rehabilitation and cultural centers to giving musical instruments to schools, providing scholarships to students in universities and supporting the education of girls who have no possibility of continuing their education. One of the most ambitious and successful of these projects-providing scholarships to 5000 girls from rural villages in Anatolia- is undertaken with the generous sponsorship of Turkcell, the leading provider of mobile communications services in Turkey. This is a win-win project where the sponsoring agency benefits from the project as well as the girls who are given an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to complete their education, as I will soon explain.

At CYDD, Prof. Saylan and several members of her staff were busy. Young people walked in and out of the room, carrying papers to be signed by the Professor, and asking questions. The phone was constantly ringing. Someone announced that two buses would be leaving shortly for the city of Kars on Turkey’s eastern border to take books and other needed items. Prof. Saylan gave directives to load our containers also onto the buses for the needy children in Kars. We were grateful to know that our donations would reach the right hands by the end of the day.

Before our meeting started, the staff brought in a young Turkish girl of college age who had just arrived from the city of Kastamonu in the Black Sea region. She had been one of CYDD’s promising students, but since her university entrance exam scores were too low to qualify her, she needed to find a position for herself in Istanbul. Prof. Saylan apologized to us for needing to attend the business and then gently began asking her questions with the authority of a caring teacher. The restless young girl wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt responded eagerly with apparent admiration and respect. Prof. Saylan offered her an internship at CYDD. One had to see the broad smile on the young girl’s face as she thanked Prof. Saylan and rushed upstairs.

It would have been so easy to praise Prof. Saylan for her tireless efforts as she came back to sit with us around the table had she not immediately declared, “I very much dislike people who praise me saying ‘if only we had ten more people like you, Turkey would have been so much more advanced by now.’ My response to them is ‘why aren’t you one of those people yourself? Stop praising me and be the kind of person you want to see.” She was, of course, absolutely right. She then explained her organization, its ongoing projects, and the challenges it faces.

There are 7 million illiterate people in Turkey. Of those, 6 million are women. Poverty is the principal reason that girls are kept out of school, especially in Eastern and Southeastern regions where families have many children. The high costs of schools force families to choose between boys and girls and families always prefer sending the boys. “One of the biggest challenges we face is lack of educational opportunities for girls,” Prof. Saylan said.” Unfortunately, many families in rural Turkey still send only their boys to school. Girls are left behind. The educational discrimination that exists between girls and boys in rural Turkey is a deeply rooted social problem. The major problems facing women are lack of education, lack of property ownership rights, and lack of economic independence. CYDD’s “Contemporary Girls of Contemporary Turkey” project sends girls to school. If girls are educated, they would not wear headscarves, and they would not be beaten by their husbands. They would also be more educated about family planning.”

This particular project “Contemporary Girls of Contemporary Turkey” is sponsored by the communications company Turkcell. Prof. Saylan spoke enthusiastically about how CYDD and Turkcell had teamed together to educate girls. The company’s generous sponsorship, she said, had paid off, and Turkcell was awarded the Institute of Public Relations’ (IPR) Excellence Awards, one of the most prestigious international awards in the public relations field. Turkcell competed for the award with over 270 entrants in 14 categories and was the only non-UK based company among the 54 finalists to be nominated. Turkcell received the award in the category of “Corporate Social Responsibility” in a ceremony held in London last June. IPR Excellence Award nominees are evaluated on the scope of the project and the overall contribution the project makes to society. A panel of public relations professionals and academics selects the winners based on each project’s ultimate success at reaching its target population. These projects are so important to the education of the rural population that Prof. Saylan is constantly searching for corporations to practice the same corporate social responsibility and sponsor worthy projects.

Another spin off of this educational project was the book, “Kardelenler,” written by Ayse Kulin, that relates the real life stories of girls, aged 9 to 22, from the 35 cities receiving the scholarships. It is a difficult book to put down. “Kardelenler” created such enormous interest in Turkish society that it reached its 11th print edition within a month-from June 2004 to July 2004. I read mine in two hours, sometimes laughing, but mostly in tears about the prejudice and abuse women and girls have to endure in small villages and towns across Turkey caused by their traditions and narrow mindedness. Yet Prof. Saylan was quick to point out that while her projects encountered some fundamentalists who kept girls out of school, the main reason was almost always financial hardship. Many families who could not afford to send their daughters to school jumped at the possibility when presented with scholarship opportunities. “In fact, not one family pulled their daughter out of school once we took care of them financially,” Prof. Saylan said. In spite of the many heartbreaking stories in the book, the determination of these girls to continue their education despite all the hardship, poverty and sacrifice shines throughout the book, hence the title “Kardelenler”. Kardelen is a flower that continues growing even when blanketed by heavy snow. All proceeds from the sale of this book are donated to the “Contemporary Girls of Contemporary Turkey” project. Kardelenler is a must reading for all who cares about the future of Turkey.

CYDD was established in 1989 to protect and adhere to the Ataturk’s principles and reforms, and to bring Turkey to the level of contemporary, civilized nations. The motto of Prof. Saylan’s organization is “to be a part of the solution and not part of the problem”. This is reflected in all areas of Turkish society where CYDD is active. Their principal goal is to raise educated, contemporary, universal individuals and provide equal educational opportunities for everyone. Its members consist of some 20,000 dedicated volunteers who desire to serve their country. It has 95 branches around the country and an independent affiliate in Munster, Germany, which provided the initial funding for the education of 17 girls before that number reached 5,000. CYDD’s current goal is to provide scholarships to 500,000 girls, an extraordinary goal.

Who then is Prof. Turkan Saylan? In her newly published autobiography entitled “Gunes Umuttan Simdi Dogar”-”The Sun Rises Now Out of Hope”- we meet the courageous, dedicated, caring activist who keeps going against all odds. These challenges sometimes came in the form of dreadful health problems-she spent 13 months lying face down in bed to recover from spinal tuberculosis. She graduated from the University of Istanbul School of Medicine while wearing the steel corset for her spine that she had worn for two years. She was diagnosed twice with breast cancer, went through surgery and chemotherapy. At other times, she tackles some of the toughest societal issues most people prefer to ignore, such as prostitution and leprosy. Her continuous services and support of lepra patients were recognized by the prestigious Gandhi Award presented to her in India. She is an extraordinary teacher who teaches not only by her words, but more so by how she lives her life. She volunteered for 21 years to head the Leprosy Hospital in Turkey. She considers every child her own and is the mother of two sons. She is an institution all her own. Her name has become synonymous with CYDD, which she helped found, and has been its president since 1989. She believes that the most important problem in Turkey is providing equal education opportunities and keeping the country secular. Prof. Turkan Saylan is an exemplary world citizen whom Turkey is proud and fortunate to have produced. One might say that she is a “kardelen” herself.

How can we support Prof. Saylan in achieving her goals? One of her favorite projects is Regional Elementary Boarding Schools (Yatili Ilkogretim Bolge Okullari-YIBO). “Turkey’s soul and future lies in these schools,” says Prof.Saylan and continues: “These boarding schools have existed for a long time but have been ignored. We recently became aware of their importance. We have about 583 of these regional primary schools including both daytime and boarding schools. About 166,000 of our poorest children spend eight years of their lives and learn whatever they can in these schools. Families also learn along with their children. Seven year old children come to these schools and begin learning to brush their teeth, think soundly and constructively, show interest in arts, in their country, and in the world. I strongly believe that the enlightenment of Anatolia will start from these schools if only we can complete what the schools are lacking and we are able to inspire their teachers. These children have to be able to see and learn the same things as the children in big cities. They have to be exposed to movies, plays, paintings, sculptures, music.”

Prof. Saylan gave many examples of successful projects implemented in the poorest parts of Turkey and would welcome donations and corporate sponsorships to continue and expand their activities. For further information, please visit http://www.cydd.org.tr