Young minds who graduated from Turkey’s best high schools were hit by a visa obstacle on their way to study in Italy. While visas were not granted to some due to financial inadequacy and others due to seeking asylum, the families of the students suffered losses of thousands of Euros. While nearly a thousand students, including journalists and national athletes, are at risk of losing their education rights, both families and victimized students want their voices to be heard. Hasan Oğuzhan Aytaç, General Coordinator of the Youth Organizations Forum, said that the visa barrier imposed by Italy is unacceptable and stated that the education rights of young people living in Turkey have been taken away from them and said, “If students cannot obtain a visa by November 30, they will lose their right to education. They will also enroll in universities in Turkey.” “They will not be able to go to university this year because they did not have it done,” he said.
“THEY BURNED OUR 2 YEARS”
Fatma Menal Akın
“I could hardly find a visa appointment at the end of August for the school I was accepted to in June. My passport has been at the consulate for 3 months. I am still waiting for a response for my visa. Since I was going to Italy, I moved to Ankara with my family. Since they did not accept the address change in the last 3 months, I have always been in Istanbul I go and come back. I lost my accommodation and flight ticket money. I’m trying to take classes online, but the prompt crashes. I also missed orientation. “I’m paying for the dormitory that I can’t get into.”
Tuana Fırat
“A visa was not granted for reasons such as financial inadequacy, asylum suspicion, etc. I applied to the consulate once again, but it has not been finalized yet. Even if my visa is approved, the records will be deleted after 2 weeks. Even if the visa is granted, we will fail the courses since the exams have started. If we fail the courses, we lose our right to reside. There is a possibility that I may lose my scholarship as well. They burned us for 2 years. Early applications for next year are closed and we will have to take the exam again. We missed December. Even if I take the exam in March, school applications will be closed this time. I have a loss of 5 thousand Euros. However, I rented a house and ordered furniture, but I had to cancel it. Even if I get a visa, I no longer have a home to stay. Session appointments are full until December 2026.”
Ayyüce Hamşıoğlu
“I got into automotive engineering. Not only could I not go to Italy because I was rejected for a visa, but my plane ticket was also destroyed. I paid a deposit of one thousand Euros in July for the dormitory I would stay in. I have been paying 878 Euros per month for the dormitory that I have not been staying in for 4 months. The consulate put forward the excuse of ‘economic insufficiency’ as the reason for rejection. Since the application center was in Izmir, I had to travel back and forth from Konya 3 times. “I only reached the consulate once, but they said ‘send an e-mail’.”
“WE GOT SICK”
In addition to the victimized students, parents are also angry about visa torture. Student parent Şenay Yalçıner stated that her daughter was accepted to computer engineering in May and said, “We pre-registered for the school in July. On October 9, we paid 6 thousand 200 Euros in installments. Even though we had all the documents and income declarations for the visa, we could not get Schengen on the excuse of ‘economic insufficiency’. Children’s exams have started. Our children fell into depression. “We became psoriasis patients because of sadness,” he said.
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