Statistics at CrossRoads Volume 1, Issue 2 November 2013 Editorial Inside this issue: CES Bureau Membership of TurkStat President Interview with Ullrich EICHLER Visit of Ms. Lidia BRATANOVA to TurkStat 1 2 3 3 World Bank Projects 4 SNA Workshop in Ankara 4 International cooperation has turned out to be a key aspect in TurkStat. During the last six months a lot of activities were realized in terms of welcoming delegates from various countries, through participation of TurkStat experts in abroad meetings and trainings and hosting international events in Turkey. Being a trustworthy partner in the field of statistical cooperation within the international statistical community is the mission of TurkStat while engaging in these activities. We are receiving positive feedback from our partners and becoming more encouraged towards this goal. TurkStat has been taking part in several projects through hosting training activities and study visits for the benefit of several countries. In this period, delegates from Iran, South Korea, Niger and Mauritania have been welcomed in the frame of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) projects. TurkStat experts shared their experiences with peers from these countries especially on Register Based Population and Housing Censuses. Visit of Mongolian Statistical Office Delegation Additionally, TurkStat agreed to support two separate World Bank projects which will be implemented in Kazakhstan and Afghanistan. Both projects aim to strengthen the capacities of the statistical offices of these countries and TurkStat would be very glad to take part in these efforts. This issue of Statistics at Cross- Roads contains information on different cooperation activities performed since the last issue. We are also pleased to introduce our Management Advisor of USST Programme Phase III, Mr. Ullrich EICHLER with a small interview. We wish a pleasant reading time TurkStat Staff in Technical Consultancy 5 OIC-StatCom 6 Impressions of TSS Staff 7 Who is who 8 TurkStat President elected as CES Bureau Member President of TurkStat, Birol AYDEMİR participated in the 61st Plenary Session of the Conference of European Statisticians (CES) and 10th Session Committee of Statistics (CSTAT) held in Geneva on 10-13 June 2013. Birol AYDEMİR was elected as the Vice-Chair to the Bureau of the Conference of European Statisticians (CES) for the period of 2013-2015.
Page 2 Statistics at CrossRoads Interview with Mr. Ullrich EICHLER- Management Advisor of USST Programme Mr. Ullrich Eichler acted as the long term Project Management Advisor of the first and second phases of the Upgrading the Statistical System of Turkey (USST) Programme respectively between 2004-2007 and 2007-2009. He had provided valuable contribution into the effective implementation of the Programme during those periods and currently TurkStat has the chance to work with him again in the third phase of the Programme. In the following interview, we would like to receive his views on the progress of Turkish Statistical System and his career as a consultant in Turkey. Harmonization has to be done permanently, it is a never ending task and requires concentrated efforts constantly Mr. Eichler, we are aware that you were the founder and original Head of Statistical Office of Free State of Saxony in Germany. Would you please tell us how you decided to become an international consultant? The first international contacts were based on regional partnerships between Poland, Czech Republic and the state of Saxony in Germany. We established regular meetings to describe the situation statistically across the border line and to learn more about our neighbors. After that I realized several shortterm missions to Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic and more and more I slipped into the international scene. When I met with success and gained new experience I felt challenged and agreed to work for two years as a pre-accession advisor in the Central Statistical Office of Poland. Here again, I had a chance to learn a lot and I liked to share my knowledge in an international partnership. This was the beginning of a very interesting part of my career. This is your third long-term assignment in TurkStat and you had the opportunity to observe the changes or the progress in TurkStat over the past 10 years. If you make a comparison between 2004 and 2013, what are the primary changes you notice in terms of both professional and cultural environment of TurkStat? Now, TurkStat operates much more effective and the colleagues act more self-assured and target-oriented. I think it is an outcome of the lessons learnt from many international contacts. Also the work atmosphere in the office is much better than it was in 2004. The general objectives of all USST Programmes have been defined as to harmonize the Turkish Statistical System with the EU Statistical System. How do you assess the current situation of Turkish Statistical System? Have the projects helped to achieve this objective? Yes, of course! TurkStat has already reached compliance in some specific fields, especially in Social and Business Statistics. However, harmonization has to be done permanently, it is a never ending task and requires concentrated efforts constantly. This means, don t stop, TurkStat, go on! As a consultant you have worked in statistical offices of several countries. What are the differences between TurkStat and other statistical offices in EU countries in terms of employee profile and corporate culture? I learned that all Statistical Offices are more or less in the same situation. Statistics is becoming more and more complex and complicated discipline. Our customers are demanding more and better information and we have to reduce the burden on the respondents. So we have to discuss how to maintain and improve the position of official statistics. Statistics has to prove its competitiveness, capacities and abilities to fulfil its mission and role in a democ-
Volume 1, Issue 2 Page 3 Interview with Mr. Ullrich EICHLER (cont d) ratic society. Differences between the institutes exist only due to national characteristics, but never in general terms of the work and the service approach. Regarding the social environment, it is a common perception that Ankara is a lifeless city with too many government buildings and officials. As you have stayed quite long in Ankara, how do you conceive the social life and public attitude in Ankara as a foreigner? Do you advice the international consultants come and work here? In any case, Turkey is a lively country! And my recommendation is always: Come to here and see, listen and learn more about Turkey! Discover the country and the people! You will be most welcome! Mr. Eichler, we remember the day when you first appeared in TurkStat building at the beginning of this year. All of us were very happy to see our long term advisor and also life-time friend. Thank you very much for being so supportive and gracious. Thank you! Visit of Ms. Lidia BRATANOVA to TurkStat Turkey is a lively country! And my recommendati on is always: Come to here and see, listen and learn more about Turkey! President of TurkStat, Birol AYDEMİR and Head of International Relations Department, Şennur ONUR hosted the Director of Statistical Division of UNECE, Lidia BRATANOVA who was in Ankara on the occasion of the Twenty Second Session of the Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities (CCSA) hosted by SESRIC at its Headquarters in Ankara on 4-6 September 2013. The meeting mainly focused on his election as the Vice-Chair to the Bureau of the Conference of European Statisticians (CES) and activities carried out by the Bureau. Furthermore, potential coperation areas were also handled.
Page 4 TurkStat takes part World Bank Projects Kazakhstan Strengthening the Statistical System of Kazakhstan Statistical Office Project is implemented since October 2012 by Federal Statistics Office of Germany as the consortium leader. Further members of the Consortium are Statistics Finland, Czech Statistical Office, Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic, Statistics Korea and the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation. TurkStat is the sub-contractor of the project and supports the project by hosting study visits and in terms of provision of consultants in specific subjects. In this context, experienced TurkStat expert Mr. Osman YILDIZ who is also acting as the Head of Agricultural Structure and Economic Accounts Group, paid a visit to Kazakhstan on Agricultural Prices in September 2013. Afghanistan Strengthening the Statistical System Of Afghanistan Statistical Office Project is a World Bank Twinning Project implemented by GIZ Consortium. Project will last for 5 years during 2013-2018. GIZ is the consortium leader of the project and other members are Statistics Sweden, ADETEF, Insyde and TurkStat. Inception period of the project was completed and the kick off meeting was held on 28 May 2013. As a consortium partner, TurkStat will provide consultants and host some of the training activities in Ankara. SNA Workshop in Ankara The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), in collaboration with United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) jointly organized the Regional Seminar on Developing a Programme for the Implementation of the 2008 System of National Accounts (SNA) and Supporting Statistics for ECO Member Countries on 11-13 September 2013. TurkStat supported the the seminar which was hosted by SESRIC at its headquarters in Ankara, Turkey. Seventyfour participants from national statistical offices (NSO), central banks (CB), and relevant government offices of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Turkey; and from international organisations including ECO, UNSD, UNECE, and UNESCAP attended the Seminar. Additionally, representatives of Germany (Destatis and GIZ) and Norway (SSB-Statistics Norway) took part in the Seminar.
Volume 1, Issue 2 TurkStat Staff in Technical Consultancy Page 5 Mongolia A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between TurkStat, TIKA and the Statistical Office of Mongolia on February 27, 2013. In this context; Three experts from Mongolia visited TukStat between 5-7 June 2013 to get information on activities of Training and Research Center of TurkStat. Additionally, four consultancy missions were realized by TurkStat experts in the last six months. These were on the areas of gender statistics and labour force statistics in June, administrative registers and residence statistics in September and sampling techniques in October. Palestine TurkStat hosted two Palestinian delegation in the last six months. First one was the visit of 5 experts from Central Statistical Office of Palestine on 6-8 May 2013 to share experiences on Information Technologies and the second one was realized between 14-17 May 2013 on the area of User-Producer Dialogue. Niger A mission consisting of ten experts from the National Statistical Office of Niger visited TurkStat on 22-24 May 2013 in order to get information about Population and Housing Censuses. Tajikistan Two experts from TurkStat visited Tajikistan Statistical Agency on 15-17 July 2013 in order to monitor the technical cooperation programme which have been implemented jointly with TIKA since 2005. The visit also has been a factfinding mission to support Tajikistan Statistical Agency by purchasing hardware and software IT equipment. Tunisia In order to provide technical support to Tunisian National Institute on Statistics (NIS), a memorandum of Understanding was signed between TurkStat, TIKA and (NIS) on March 15, 2013. On the basis of this memorandum, two TurkStat delegation visited Tunisia in May 2013. First mission was dedicated to examine the data dissemination and publication processes and of Tunisian National Institute on Statistics. Second mission aimed at reviewing the Legal and Organizational Structure and Official Statistical Program of Tunisian National Institute on Statistics.
Page 6 Statistics at CrossRoads Third Session of the Statistical Commission of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC-StatCom) TurkStat took part in SESRIC organizations TurkStat participated in the Third Session of the Statistical Commission of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC-StatCom) co-organised by the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) on 10-12 April 2013 in Ankara, Turkey. An opening remark was rendered by the TurkStat s Vice President Enver TAŞTI. s of TurkStat contributed to the sessions titled as Towards a More Comprehensive System of Labour Statistics, Open Data Initiative: Challenges and Opportunities for NSOs of OIC Member Countries and From MDGs to SDGs: Involvement of National Statistical Offices in Measuring Progress in the Post-2015 Period. Statistics in Turkey Progress Report Positive comments on Statistics in Turkey s Progress Report 2013 prepared by EU Commission 2013 Progress Report for Turkey has been published on October 16, 2013 by the European Commission DG Enlargement. Concerning Statistics, alignment of the chapter with the Acquis Communautaire is found at an advanced level. In details, a complete reorganization of TurkStat has been carried out in order to improve efficiency. TurkStat has made progress with the development of a metadata editor in the area of classifications and registers, and a regulation that prescribes the use of the NACE Rev. 2 classification by owners of administrative data has been adopted. With respect to sectoral statistics, TurkStat has revised its methodology for tourism statistics so as to ensure more in line with the EU methodology. In agriculture statistics, timeliness of crop production estimates has been aligned with Eurostat s data collection periods. Consequently, progress has been made in the area of statistics, with the submission of an agriculture statistics strategy and the revision of tourism statistics. Nevertheless, further progress is needed on national accounts, agriculture statistics and regional statistics. Cooperation between TurkStat and main data providers needs to be strengthened.
Volume 1, Issue 2 Page 7 Impressions of Some Turkish s Participated in Various International Activities INSEE methodology department is very experienced about seasonal adjustment process and on the usage of the programmes JDemetra+ and Demetra+. It was a good opportunity for me to compare the two adjustment methods Tramo Seats and X-12 Arima with these programmes. In traineeship programme I also had the oppurtunity to examine the working conditions, data collecting methods about IPI, organization chart and human resources system of INSEE. The experience I obtained during my traineeship programme especially on seasonal adjustment will be very useful in my future works. Alper DAĞ Traineeship on Short-term Statistics (applied methodologist on time series) 18/03/2013-13/09/2013 (France/Paris) The visit enabled us to see different approaches for constructing property price indices and how the property price indices were used by the Central Bank of Norway for policy making purposes. We also had the opportunity to be acquainted with regional network studies as well as compilation and use of enterprise statistics carried out by the Central Bank of Norway. Both the information gathered during the visit and establishing relationship with both Statistics Norway and Central Bank of Norway has been quite beneficial for carrying out our future working plans. Staff of Central Bank of Republic of Turkey Dilek Talı Emel Dinçer Özgül Atılgan Ayanoğlu Study Visit to Statistics Norway and Central Bank of Norway 6-8 February, 2013 Oslo, Norway TSS staff members have gained positive impressions from Abroad Activities The Joint UNECE / Eurostat / OECD Work Sessions on Statistical Metadata (METIS) brings together the experts working on metadata standards from all around the world. Participating in this meeting and having the opportunity to take part in discussions on issues like metadata standards and models, metadata in the statistical business process, and obtaining information about various case studies presented by different countries/organisations provided me a new perspective on metadata standards. Fatma Deniz ÖZKAN Work Session on Statistical Metadata (METIS) 6-8 May 2013 Geneva, Switzerland As a member of Turkish Delegation on behalf of Ministry of Customs and Trade, it was beneficial for me to be able to get experiences and best practices of the countries and Eurostat which were represented in the workshop. Alaattin DURMAZ from Ministry of Customs and Trade IPA Workshop On International Trade In Goods Statistics 21 May 2013 - Luxembourg I recognized from this meeting that the usage of pesticide on human health and environment and risk indicators are very significant issue for future and gathering data on these areas is of crucial importance as well. Another aspect of this meeting is the issue of confidentiality which is very important for data dissemination. Confidentiallity aspects specifically for pesticide statistics are under discussion in EUROSTAT. ALİ AY Working Group Agriculture and Environment Pesticides Statistics 26-27 September, 2013-Luxembourg
People to contact in TurkStat on International Relations and Cooperation Issues Who is Who? TURKISH STATISTICAL INSTITUTE Yücetepe Mah. Necatibey cad. No:114 06100 Çankaya/Ankara TURKEY Phone: +90 312-410 0410 Fax:+90 312-4253387 www.tuik.gov.tr Enver TAŞTI Vice President Tel: +90 312 4100119 enver.tasti@tuik.gov.tr Alper GÜCÜMENGİL Head of International Project Management Group Tel: +90 312 4100738 alper.gucumengil@tuik.gov.tr Şennur ONUR Head of International Relations Department Tel: +90 312 4100721 sennur.onur@tuik.gov.tr Gürdal GEDİK Head of International Relations and EU Coordination Group Tel: +90 312 4100703 gurdal.gedik@tuik.gov.tr International Project Management Group Metin EROL +90 312 4100704 metin.erol@tuik.gov.tr Ebru ÇÖKMEZ +90 312 4100735 ebru.cokmez@tuik.gov.tr Osman ORHANLI +90 312 4100704 osman.orhanli@tuik.gov.tr Betül TAŞDEMİR +90 312 4100711 betul.tasdemir@tuik.gov.tr Gözde ÖZTELLİ +90 312 4100711 gozde.oztelli@tuik.gov.tr Çağatay IŞILAK +90 312 4100724 cagatay.isilak@tuik.gov.tr Derya KOÇ Statistician +90 312 4100711 derya.koc@tuik.gov.tr Jale YELMEN Statistician +90 312 4100711 jale.yelmen@tuik.gov.tr Nuray KIZILBAYRAK Secretary +90 312 4100735 nuray.kizilbayrak@tuik.gov.tr Deniz SAÇILIK Secretary +90 312 4100711 deniz.sacilik@tuik.gov.tr International Cooperation and EU Coordination Group Berna ÜLGEN Nilgün ÇELEBİOĞLU Turgay ALTUN Neslihan ÖNCÜL Şükrü ÇALLI Serap GÖZEL Halime ÖNDER Esmeray ŞAHİN Engineer Economist Secretary +90 312 4100701 berna.ulgen@tuik.gov.tr +90 312 4100716 nilgun.celebioglu@tuik.gov.tr +90 312 4100710 turgay.altun@tuik.gov.tr +90 312 4100710 neslihan.oncul@tuik.gov.tr +90 312 4100701 sukru.calli@tuik.gov.tr +90 312 4100716 serap.gozel@tuik.gov.tr +90 312 4100710 halime.onder@tuik.gov.tr +90 312 4100701 esmeray.sahin@tuik.gov.tr