BARCELONA, Spain--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Turkcell (NYSE:TKC) (BIST:TCELL) has been deemed worthy of an award for Hello Hope, the unique application for Syrian Refugees, at the Glomo Awards in GSMA Mobile World Congress. The Hello Hope mobile application, developed with the aim of serving solution for Syrian refugees’ needs in learning Turkish, communication and accessing information for daily life, was awarded for “Mobile in Emergency or Humanitarian Situations” in the “Social & Economic Development” category. Turkcell CEO Kaan Terzioglu has received the awards at the ceremony held on Tuesday, 28th of February.
With the prestigious award, Turkcell left behind many strongly competing projects in the same category. “Hello Hope” application helps solving language difficulties by teaching basic Turkish vocabulary through language flashcards on most common issues and providing instant speech translation. A section on Frequently Asked Questions includes info on refugee registration processes, access to public services such as education and health, and a location-based service option guiding users to nearby facilities. One-click access to Turkey's only Arabic language call centre contributes to the experience.
“We aim to make everyone have the same conditions everywhere”
Turkcell CEO Kaan Terzioğlu emphasized the role of technology in
benefits for society; “We have always aim to transform the technology
that we have in to benefits for society. We set off on the Hello Hope
project with this ideal. We wished for individuals staying in our
country to have access to the same conditions as we do. 3 million
Syrians are living in Turkey, which has the highest number of refugees
among the host countries in the world, and as Turkcell we provide
service to 1.3 million of them. Our aim was to prevent all immigrants
whose native language is Arabic, Syrians in particular, from feeling out
of place in terms of language and culture. Thus in September 2016 we
launched the “Hello Hope” application developed by Turkcell Academy.
With our project aiming to ease the daily life of Syrians and offer them
a chance at adaptation, the application has been downloaded
approximately 300 thousand times.
And today, this meaningful reward
we received here proved the success of both the Hello Hope and the path
we follow. We will continue to be by the side of refugees in our country
with our technology during their integration process.”
Turkcell integrated application into temporary shelter
In
the second phase of the “Hello Hope” project, first implemented as a
mobile application by Turkcell, an education centre was opened in the
Kahramanmaraş Temporary Housing Center in collaboration with AFAD,
Prodea Systems and Naiim. At the centre, Arabic K-12 education for
children and young people, as well as the opportunity for adults to
learn Turkish through news, health and everyday living content is
provided. Turkcell also offers 4.5G mobile communication and high speed
fiber internet services in the centre. Kahramanmaraş, has an added
significance in being the first centre where high speed fiber internet
services are offered to refugees free of charge.
