Istanbul Guides Chamber (IRO) President Hüseyin Özgür Özaltun: This law amendment proposal prepared for the Tourist Guide Profession Law No. 6326 contains some worrying articles for both us and the country’s tourism. Istanbul Chamber of Guides (İRO) published a press release regarding the proposed law on amending the Tourist Guide Profession Law, which was submitted to the Presidency of the Parliament on Friday, February 9. At the press conference held at the IRO Management Center on Tuesday, February 13, H. Özgür Özaltun, Chairman of the IRO Board of Directors, shared IRO’s objections and reservations regarding the regulations included in the relevant law amendment. IRO President Özgür Özaltun; He started his statement by saying, “With the bill submitted by the MPs to the Parliament on Friday, February 9, we received information that there would be some changes in the Tourist Guide Profession Law No. 6326 and we examined these changes.” Then, IRO President Özaltun listed his reservations and objections to the relevant amendment proposal as guidelines. Here are the regulations that tourist guides object to, item by item:Özgür Özaltun stated that some of the regulations in the bill to amend the Tourist Guide Law contain some worrying articles for both guides and the country’s tourism, and said:
Removal of the Obligation to Have a Guide
Özgür Özaltun: The obligation to have a Turkish guide was introduced as a precaution against various propaganda
Istanbul Guides Chamber (IRO) President Özgür Özaltun said, “Some regulations regarding our current law contain some worrying articles for both us and the country’s tourism. First of all, I have to say this; The most important of these articles is the removal of the obligation to have a Turkish guide in buses and smaller vehicles on tours with foreign tourists… This regulation is an article that can lead to very dangerous consequences because when foreign tourists and foreign travelers visit our country by bus or smaller vehicles; The obligation to have a Turkish guide in this vehicle was included in our law as a precaution against various propaganda… We think that the fact that this is now being abolished also creates a national security problem.
“This is Our Most Important Objection”
Removing the obligation to have a guide on the bus does not only create this problem. At the same time, it also causes foreign tourists to be left alone in case of possible neglect and if there is no guide who speaks a foreign language on that bus. It also causes it to be entrusted to the driver or other non-professional people who are not experts in the job. In this respect, we find this objectionable. This is our most important objection.
Examination Obligation for Guides Every 5 Years
IRO President Özgür Özaltun explained that one of his prominent objections was “the introduction of a foreign language exam requirement for guides every 5 years.”
“We Interpret This as a Violation of Acquired Rights”
Özaltun shared the following about this change and his objections to this change: “Another objection we have is that professionals are currently subject to examination every 5 years; It’s a matter of measuring their foreign languages again… Now, our colleagues here are making as much effort as they can and are already improving their foreign languages. However, in a possible situation, exam psychology will lead to a result such as not being able to take any exams and the withdrawal of the given right in a similar situation. We do not find such a change appropriate. We object to this. IRO: This Amendment to the Law I hope the authorities will rethink and re-evaluate this issue and take our objection into consideration. Because we have colleagues who have 7, 8 or even 11 languages attached to their licenses. It is not possible to take the exam in all of these languages one by one. On the other hand, to include our colleagues who know 1 or 2 foreign languages in these exams again; In a possible situation, it will cause them to lose the rights they have.
Professional Admission Exam Regulation
Apart from this, we saw in the proposed law an article such as a profession admission exam among the conditions for admission to the profession. Our colleagues who graduate from relevant departments of the university are obliged to know a foreign language and must be accepted to the profession if they complete their training and practice trips. When we look at it, we think that the profession admission exam may be subject to injustice when people who graduate from the relevant department of the university meet the conditions for admission to the profession. We want this exam called “professional admission exam” to be abolished.
Removal of the Requirement to Know a Foreign Language
As professionals, we are not against new entries into our profession, but we want qualified colleagues to enter the profession. IRO: This Amendment to the Law In this context, where I will focus on the subject is of course the removal of the obligation to know a foreign language in this bill…
“This profession has become more passive and simpler”
When you look at it today, among the conditions of becoming a guide, there is a requirement to be able to read, write and speak at least one foreign language well. If this obligation is eliminated, it disappears from our profession. In other words, when any condition or qualification is removed from any profession, this profession becomes more passive and simpler.”
“We are already over 13 thousand guides who speak Turkish”
Özgür Özaltun completed the press release with the following statements: “They say the following as an argument for this: ‘Guides who do not have to know a foreign language guide our citizens.’ They present an argument like this. However, we are already over 13 thousand guides who speak Turkish, and we happily guide our citizens both at home and abroad. We are proud of this too. “Removing knowledge of a foreign language from the conditions for admission to the profession does not make it easier to guide our citizens.”
