14
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Turkey - Ankara Office
This project is funded by the
European Union.
Türkiye - Ankara Ofisi
We had the chance to work with Ankara Çankaya Hearing Impaired Youth and Sports Club Association even
for a short time thanks to the technical assistance they demanded from the TACSO Project during their grant
application process. During this work, we held an interview with the President of the Society, Nihat Kihtir,
who has congenital hearing impairment himself; regarding what points we should care about while working
with persons with hearing disabilities with a view to facilitating the communication between us and the
individuals with hearing impairments or associations for the hearing-impaired.
We would especially like to thank our interpreter Habibe Biber, who assisted us during this work.
Interview: Ayça Beştepe Günçakın
A: What kind of activities do you hold as Ankara Çankaya Hearing Impaired Youth and Sports Club
Association?
N: We appreciate education. It is very important for us to make sign language more prevalent. In this
respect, we hold various courses addressing persons with/without hearing disabilities. Sign language training
is one of them. For the persons with hearing disabilities, we generally hold courses aimed at acquiring skills
or professions. We also have some cultural and artistic activities. Our theater and folklore groups hold
periodical activities. We have an upcoming theater play to be staged. Besides, we have teams in several
branches since our association is a sports club.
A: How many members do you have?
N: The number of our members is constantly rising; we have 200 registered members for the time being. We
have more than 100 licensed sportspersons in our Sports Club.
A: To my knowledge, there is always an interpreter in the association, right?
N: Yes, it is a must to have an interpreter all the time, otherwise we face many challenges. It becomes
difficult to finalize our tasks, which causes a serious loss of time.
A: Do you happen to encounter a sign language interpreter in the meetings, seminars, conferences, etc. to
which you are invited?
N: Generally not. Honestly, nobody is sufficiently aware of this. We definitely ask before we go, only then
they realize that there is a need. Sometimes they ask for our help to find an interpreter after they have
realized the need, and we guide them. We generally take our own interpreter with us, through our own
means. Even if the subject is directly related to persons with hearing disabilities, we face some challenges
most of the time, unfortunately.
TACSO Turkey
Ankara Office• Gülden Sk. 2/2 Kavaklıdere • 06690 Ankara • t/f: +90 312 426 4451
İstanbul Office• Dümen Sok. 7/14 Gümüşsuyu • 34425 İstanbul • t : +90 212 243 87 26
e-mail: info.turkey@tacso.org
www.tacso.org
24
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Turkey - Ankara Office
This project is funded by the
European Union.
Türkiye - Ankara Ofisi
A: Do you have any problems understanding what you read?
N: I am sure most people do not know much about this issue; therefore it is important to state it here, thank
you for the question: Turkish Sign Language is different than Turkish language in terms of the grammatical
structure. So it is not very easy for us to understand what we read. Sure we do understand, but as I said
earlier, we face a challenge due to the structural difference, and we always run the risk of misunderstanding.
It becomes far more difficult to understand especially technical documents such as the grant manual. Or to
the contrary; our sentences run the risk of not being understood correctly.
A: How is the situation about interpreters? What about the availability of specialized/competent interpreters
in the market?
N: There are several courses that provide training. We also have such trainings, as I already mentioned;
however, we do not employ the students that we have trained. We just give a certificate of participation.
Because if they are going to perform this as a profession, they should definitely be very well trained, have a
certificate, and pursue an internship program. This is a very sensitive and important issue. Because
interpreter is all that we have, we receive only the information he/she interprets.
A: Can we say that you are confined to what the interpreter conveys to you?
N: Definitely. That’s why the interpreter issue is very important. We experienced problems even with our
own interpreter in the past. With good intentions or not, we experienced very serious problems arising from
incomplete or incorrect translations, unfortunately. Think this way, we receive information through the
interpreter. So we think and act in line with what the interpreter translates. Actually, it would be very
beneficial if every organization had their own interpreter. The organization can also give the interpreter
technical information regarding their own subject. This minimizes the risk of problems in communication.
We want both the public and the private sector to be more sensitive to this issue.
Unfortunately, there are serious conundrums about interpreting. There were courses held by the Ministry of
National Education. Many people received certificates from these courses. But a short time ago, the Ministry
announced that the certificates were invalid and the certified persons needed to take another examination.
There is no problem about this of course; but the commission that will test the competences of these
individuals must be competent; this is a very important issue. An academic board should be established, and
infrastructure should be prepared in this respect. We do not know what exactly will happen for the time
being. Besides, the fact that courses are opened and closed all the time, and the modules are changed
frequently, has a negative impact on the whole process.
A: Is there a legal sanction on having an interpreter in the organizations?
N: No, there is no such obligation. Maybe organizations are not even aware of this need, and how sensitive
this situation is. Maybe we should raise more awareness on this issue.
TACSO Turkey
Ankara Office• Gülden Sk. 2/2 Kavaklıdere • 06690 Ankara • t/f: +90 312 426 4451
İstanbul Office• Dümen Sok. 7/14 Gümüşsuyu • 34425 İstanbul • t : +90 212 243 87 26
e-mail: info.turkey@tacso.org
www.tacso.org
34
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Turkey - Ankara Office
This project is funded by the
European Union.
Türkiye - Ankara Ofisi
A: How were you first introduced to the TACSO project?
N: I did not know about your organization. First, somebody from your team participated in our sign language
course, which helped us be informed about the project. Afterwards, we had the chance to work in person
during a grant application. Unfortunately, we experienced some problems about the issues that I just
mentioned during the grant application. We could not fully understand the manual when we read it. We had
problems filling out the application forms. The process was a little difficult for us. But our collaboration with
TACSO had a positive impact on me and my association during this process. Before the grant application,
they gave us a briefing about the project implementation in organizations although we had a very limited
time. This study enabled us to see the capacity of our own institution, and to handle our needs from a
difficult point of view. It raised our awareness to a serious extent as to what kind of a road we would pursue.
As I mentioned, we had a very limited time, and we held a restricted study; however, we recognized our
needs together. As an association, we demanded a project cycle training tailored for hearing impaired
associations; we hope other associations will also be interested and we will receive sufficient information on
this subject. Then we will be able to file our applications on our own. Because otherwise, the situation
becomes more prone to abuse, and sometimes we think we are being used.
Maybe there can be a language assistant during the project application and/or implementation process? Like
a companion. As I already mentioned, our grammar is different and our sentences are inverted. If I fill the
application form myself, the sentences will be inverted and I will run the risk of not expressing myself
correctly. In this case, I cannot fill out the form on my own, this is really an important issue, and maybe a
solution can be created this way?
A: There was a point that we also realized while we were working with you; it is an issue of culture among
the persons with hearing impairments; you are very excited, you think about several things at a time. What
would you like to tell us about this?
N: Actually we are not very different at all; the only difference arises during the communication phase. That
is to say, the difference is about language. You talk for a very long time; we make up short sentences. The
grammatical structure is different, as I said. I do not know, maybe you like elaborating and prolonging the
conversation.
A: Do you get bored?
N: Yes, that’s exactly the problem; we can lose our interest when the speech is prolonged. Maybe we already
proceed with another subject while you are still talking about the same topic.
A: What other cultural and structural differences are there?
N: An individual with a hearing impairment picks up the culture in the family, and the culture exhibits
differences in itself. Sometimes all family members of the individual have hearing impairment, sometimes
not. Or some individuals have a semi-hearing loss, their families do not prefer them to keep in touch with
people who have hearing disabilities. Because they do not want them to learn sign language, but
communicate via lip reading. But in that case, individuals face problems communicating with both sides. In
TACSO Turkey
Ankara Office• Gülden Sk. 2/2 Kavaklıdere • 06690 Ankara • t/f: +90 312 426 4451
İstanbul Office• Dümen Sok. 7/14 Gümüşsuyu • 34425 İstanbul • t : +90 212 243 87 26
e-mail: info.turkey@tacso.org
www.tacso.org
44
Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Turkey - Ankara Office
This project is funded by the
European Union.
Türkiye - Ankara Ofisi
such and similar cases, individuals become antisocial, or communicate only with their own disability group. I
would like to give an example. Keep a little puppy in a room, feed it, and don’t let it see anyone. Then it will
be hostile and aggressive when it goes out. Indeed, the families of some hearing-impaired individuals are
doing the same thing. Of course the intention is to protect, but it keeps the individual isolated from the
persons with whom they can communicate. They intend to protect the individual because they think the lip
reading capacity will diminish when they communicate with sign language, as I said earlier. But the results
are not so positive. Then these individuals come across negative incidences. We want families to be more
sensitive to this issue, and we also want the society to have a higher level of awareness in this respect.
A: What kind of activities have you been conducting recently?
N: We issued Smart Turkish Sign Language Preparation Book. We used the most common six languages in
our book, namely English, Spanish, German, French, Russian and Turkish. Thanks to this book, an individual
with a hearing disability will find the chance to learn the words and letters in these six languages.
Native/foreign individuals with/without hearing disabilities will be able to use Turkish Sign Language easily.
A: Can individuals who do not know anything about sign language buy the book and at least facilitate
communication?
N: It is absolutely necessary to be subject to a more comprehensive training in order to learn sign language;
but as I already mentioned, even a person who does not know anything about sign language will be able to
use sign language for daily communication or in emergency situations in a convenient manner. We
especially used terms that are specific to various professions so that this makes their job easier in social life.
The book is not only intended for learning sign language; it can also be used as a dictionary; there are
translations of a word in 6 languages at the same time. It is an ideal book for those who have received no or
basic sign language training and are willing to practice.
A: How can they have the book?
N: Via Ankara Çankaya Association for the Hearing Impaired, www.isitmeyenler.com
A: Thank you very much for your time. How can people willing to receive information reach you?
N: We would like to thank you for raising awareness regarding these special issues. Our Web address is;
www.isitmeyenler.com
TACSO Turkey
Ankara Office• Gülden Sk. 2/2 Kavaklıdere • 06690 Ankara • t/f: +90 312 426 4451
İstanbul Office• Dümen Sok. 7/14 Gümüşsuyu • 34425 İstanbul • t : +90 212 243 87 26
e-mail: info.turkey@tacso.org
www.tacso.org