Turkish State Minister and EU chief negotiator Ali Babacan described the social security legislation then before parliament as a major milestone, speaking at a World Bank conference on labor markets and employment held in Ankara. The event was co-organized by the Turkish Treasury, the State Planning Organization, and the Labor and Social Security Ministry.
Babacan said the reform, which consolidates three separate social security bodies into one unified institution, had drawn praise from the United States and European nations.
He placed equal emphasis on education, arguing that broader access to quality schooling for Türkiye's young population would strengthen the economy and help raise employment levels. He linked past economic crises directly to higher unemployment and called education reform urgent.
The minister credited private-sector investment with driving recent economic growth and said the government was now focused on lifting per capita national income to between 10,000 and 15,000 USD, describing the country as having moved beyond its earlier period of instability.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in April 2006, in its own words.