The multiplier event we organized for the purpose of promoting and disseminating the sustainable outputs of our project was hosted by Istanbul University. To the event; project partners, students and valuable names attended. Minister of Family and Social Policies and Istanbul Deputy Dr. Betül Sayan Kaya was among these participants. Expressing that drug use is an important problem, Kaya stated that many institutions and organizations have important duties in this regard, with the following words:
“Drug abuse is a problem that causes very important social, economic and security problems as well as many health problems caused by people who use drugs. It is a very complex and multidimensional problem that is becoming more and more important all over the world with each passing day. The fight against this problem is actually a struggle that all segments of society must fight together. In this sense, important duties fall on our ministries, institutions, local governments, non-governmental organizations and universities in our country. We all know that it is our common responsibility to protect our youth and families against drug addiction and to take precautions. At this point, our government attaches great importance to this issue and is taking the necessary steps to combat it.”
In his words, he emphasized that the negative effects of drug use are an individual and social threat and that it is important for institutions and organizations to act jointly in the fight against it. Later in the program, Kaya stated that the fight against drug use should be continued with determination:
“We do not see substance abuse as a situation that threatens only the individual. Substance abuse is also a threat to the family and society. For this reason, we will resolutely continue our fight against substance addiction and work diligently until there is not a single addict left.”
He underlined that addiction will be fought with his words and also stated that our project is important in this sense with the following words:
“I think that the DAPY project, which was launched here today, is very valuable both to draw attention to this issue (substance addiction) and to raise awareness about the harms of drugs among young people. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who put this project into practice with the participation of our expert teachers, academics and youth workers in cooperation with universities and non-governmental organizations in Turkey, Portugal, Poland and Norway.
He ended his speech by thanking the project coordinators and participants with his words.