Cevdet Yılmaz: Our aim is to ensure that technology is used in a beneficial way

Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz and Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, Istanbul Governor Davut Gül, Turkish Green Crescent Society General President Mehmet Dinç, Turkish Green Crescent Society Board of Trustees President Mücahit Öztürk attended the 6th Global Behavioral Addictions Congress. The congress, which is a continuation of the 5th International Technology Addiction Congress, was attended by numerous researchers, experts, institutions and organization representatives from different countries in the field of behavioral addictions. National and global developments in the fight against behavioral addictions were discussed at the congress. Speaking here, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said, "We now have another picture that is difficult to notice but has a strong effect. That is behavioral addictions. What we call behavioral addiction is when behaviors such as social media, digital games, online shopping, gambling or the time spent in front of the screen get out of a person's control and they continue these behaviors even if they do not want to."

Speaking at the congress, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said, "Today, the phenomenon of addiction has taken on a multidimensional structure that cannot be reduced to substances such as drugs and cigarettes. Now, we have another picture that is difficult to notice but has a strong effect, and that is behavioral addictions. What we call behavioral addiction is the person's behaviors such as social media, digital games, online shopping, gambling or the time spent in front of the screen getting out of their own control and continuing these behaviors even if they do not want to. Similar to countries around the world, in our country, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Digital Media Commission continues its work in order to prevent internet use from harming children and to combat crimes committed through it. Within the scope of the studies of the High Council for Combating Addiction, we had implemented a National Strategy and Action Plan for the years 2019-2023. With this document, we have made combating not only substance addiction but also behavioral addictions such as gaming, social media and digital habits a part of our state policy. Today, psychologists, social workers and child development specialists working within the Healthy Life Centers throughout Türkiye; "They offer individual consultancy services. Of course, we are not against technology. Our aim is to ensure that technology is used in a beneficial and conscious manner," he said.

'WE NEED COOPERATION IN THE INTERNATIONAL AREA'

Vice President Yilmaz said, "I would like to express that the issue of virtual gambling has been on the agenda in Türkiye, especially in recent times. In the past months under my presidency, our Ministry of Family, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Finance, and MASAK all came together and created an action plan. In the coming days, we will come together with these institutions again within the framework of a monitoring mechanism and we will further review the developments in virtual gambling and what we can do. At this point, I believe that one of the most important elements is financial movements. Both domestic and international financial movements. If we can control these, I believe that we can control virtual gambling much more effectively. Otherwise, you close a site, and other sites can be opened in the international arena; but if we can effectively follow financial movements both domestically and internationally, we can fight against virtual gambling more strongly. What MASAK will do domestically is very important here. We also need cooperation in the international arena. We need to continue this fight in cooperation with international financial institutions. In this sense, from the Consultancy Centers called YEDAM of Yeşilay to rehabilitation centers, from the Türkiye Addiction Fighting Education Program, "I would like to emphasize that every single work that has been implemented, from the (TBM) Addiction Intervention Program at School (OBM) to the Independence Mobilization Project from the International Federation of Green Crescents, is very valuable," he said.

'WE WANT TO PROVIDE A SAFER DIGITAL WORLD TO OUR CHILDREN'

Speaking here, Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş said, "Behavioral addiction is often harder to spot than we think. Because it is hidden in the normal flow of life. It seems like a daily habit, but it silently takes over the individual's soul, relationships, and quality of life. Especially in this period when we live intertwined with technology, it poses a much more insidious threat to our children and youth. Moreover, it is not just experts who say this anymore. Social media companies are also expressing it. Look at what an internal company report prepared on one of these platforms says. 'Social media use is linked to many negative psychological effects.' They used this sentence exactly like this. These effects include analytical skills, memory formation, loss of empathy and increased anxiety. What is even more striking is that the report clearly states that this medium harms sleep, workplace and school responsibilities and ties established with loved ones. As stated by our President, our aim is to resolutely carry out our fight against all kinds of attachment that harm human health and public peace. In this context, we carry out policy processes at national and international levels with our High Council for Combating Addiction. In addition, we follow a holistic road map against the threat of addiction with our action plan for protecting and strengthening the family. We develop early intervention programs, family counseling centers and local collaborations against the risk of addiction. With our renewed social adaptation process counseling model, we ensure that individuals over the age of 18 participate strongly in society together with their families. We follow the content, especially the content on social media, very closely with our social media working group. We take protective and preventive measures to protect our children from the harms of written, visual and digital publications. With a new legal regulation that we will implement, we aim to provide our children with more We want to offer a safe digital world. Addiction now starts on a small screen we carry in our pockets. We realized something, the antidote to these addictions is not to fight technology, but to reconnect with family and communicate. That's why we declared 2025 as the 'Year of the Family' with the approval of our President. The fight against addiction starts with the family and this congress is a concrete indicator of our belief in the power of the family in the fight against behavioral addiction and addiction," he said. At the end of the program, a gift was presented to Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz; then a souvenir photo was taken.

DHA

Editor: News Center