We celebrated the 18 December International Migrants Day with the participation of migrants at our Directorate General and Provincial Directorates.
Mentioning in his opening speech that Turkey hosts migrants from 190 nationalities and prospers from migration, Mr. Abdullah AYAZ, our Director General, shared an annotation about Turkey’s works on harmonization. 
In the event, the platform of www.liveinturkey.gov.trprepared in 6 languages was introduced, which includes information about the procedures the migrants will carry out, is planned to be put into service in 2019 and where the migrants will be able to acknowledge about Turkey with the communication campaign of “You Great Turkey” that our Directorate General put into effect with the aim of drawing attention to the migration and migrants, expanding awareness and contributing to the mutual harmonization.
 
Today, there are 258 million migrants in the world, where 68.5 million people are forcibly displaced and among them, over 25.4 million people are with refugee status. On December 18 International Migrants Day which has been celebrated all over the world since 2000 in order to create awareness about migration and migrants, the phenomenon of migration was celebrated once again also in Turkey. With the event hosted by our Directorate General in Ankara, by aiming to increase awareness on this issue, it was emphasized that migration is a phenomenon enriching societies.
In his speech he made within the scope of the event, Mr. Abdullah AYAZ, our Director General, highlighted that Anatolia had hosted hundreds of civilizations throughout the history, had reached a rich culture by being blended with the migrations to these lands. He continued: “Also today we are hosting migrants from 190 different nationalities. Approximately 4.7 million migrants, the 3.6 million of whom are Syrians under Temporary Protection, live in our country. After the humanitarian crisis that started in Syria in 2011, our country has become a country that hosts the highest number of asylum seekers in its country with its open door policy that has been implemented due to its religious and conscientious responsibilities. 800 thousand of the migrants that we host today in our country consist of those who stay with residence permits for various purposes such as education, starting a business and spending golden years. The migrants we host today are our wealth. The migrants contribute to our social life, society, culture and economy. Today, while tens of thousands of foreigners benefit from education services in our country, hundreds of thousands of migrants work with work permits or contribute to the economy by establishing their own business.”
 “You Great Turkey”
In the event, the communication campaign of “You Great Turkey” that our Directorate General put into effect with the aim of drawing attention to the migration and migrants, expanding awareness and contributing to the mutual harmonization was introduced too. 
 
Stating that our Directorate General had conducted many works on mutual harmonization, Mr. Abdullah AYAZ, our Director General said: “Migration is one of our greatest wealth. It is very important to know this and to embrace each other with this approach. The migrants in Turkey are our guests. We're getting rich with the migrants we've hosted. Opening our doors to a large migrant population is an also indication of our greatness. For this reason, we say "You Great Turkey". In this way, we would like to thank our country, the migrants who preferred our country and our citizens who embraced all migrants.”
The spot film, which is about the harmonization of migrants living in Turkey and local people and their way of life in mutual interaction, draws attention to this matter by stressing that migration and migrants are a wealth. On the film which symbolizes Turkey’s productivity, warmth, fertility and which takes place in a bakery run by a Turkish, it is highlighted that migrants and Turks live in a harmony. On the film, 4 migrants named Seydou, Emily, Aygüzel and İzzeddin encounter with the Baker İrfan. 

All Information Needed by Migrants is in the platform of www.liveinturkey.gov.trwhich is in 6 languages.
Sharing the works conducted on harmonization in Turkey with the migrants, our Director General announced that an information platform had been created, where the migrants could reach all necessary information. 
Announcing that the platform named Live in Turkeywould provide service in Turkish, English, German, Russian, Arabic and Persian at the beginning of 2019, Mr. AYAZ said: "The information platform that we have prepared provides detailed information regarding the procedures required to be implemented for the foreigners living in Turkey and wishing to live in Turkey. On the platform; information about education, health, work as well as many guidelines about Turkey such as social life, art, sports, transportation, government structure, social life, renting and buying a house take place. Through this platform, the migrants will be able to recognize Turkey, Turkish people and their culture very closely. In addition, all information and procedures to be implemented about visa, residence, work, citizenship, international protection and temporary protection are explained in a very clear and understandable way.”
The event where the 18 December International Migrants Day was celebrated with enthusiasm and active participation ended with cake cutting after presenting gifts, performing poetry, music and dance.