The new Pursaklar Yunus Emre building of the Labor and Social Security Training and Research Center (CASGEM), which was launched with the contribution of our association, opened on July 9. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Labor and Social Security Minister Murat Basesgioglu, Minister of State Besir Atalay and former Minister of Justice Cemil Çicek were present at the opening ceremony, at which Prime Minister Erdogan presented a plaque to Halit Narin, the President of our association.
Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister Erdogan said that the project could be completed only this year although the plot of land for the building had been allocated 33 years ago. Erdogan said, "As the country's government, our top priority is to make Turkey a perfect social state governed by the rule of law." PM Erdogan also emphasized the importance of vocational training. Also speaking at the ceremony, Labor and Social Security Minister Murat Basesgioglu explained that CASGEM had been established in 1955 by an agreement signed with the International Labor Organization and that it had been transferred to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security in 1960. Stating that both labor unions and employers' associations had contributed to the erection of the building, Basesgioglu said that these two groups had been helpful in channeling a certain amount of funds collected by the Ministry as administrative fines into the construction of the building. Basesgioglu said that the building had cost YTL 7.6 million and that YTL 3.6 million of this came from workers' and employers' organizations and administrative fines. Later on in the ceremony, Prime Minister Erdogan presented plaques to the President of the Turkish Confederation of Employers' Associations (TiSK), Tugrul Kudatgobilik, TUTSiS (Turkish Textile Employers' Association) President Halit Narin, and Pursaklar Mayor Selcuk Çetin. Erdogan then inaugurated the Labor and Social Security Training and Research Center building, accompanied by his ministers. The ceremony was also attended by the presidents of workers', employers' and civil servants' confederations, and bureaucrats of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security.