Akdeniz University Faculty Member and Chairman of the Aging Studies Association Ozgur Arun, answered our questions in a special broadcast of the STGM.
Countries are trying to combat through various methods and precautions with coronavirus epidemic that is on the agenda of the world immediately after China. As in the world, social isolation is one of the prominent measures taken in Turkey.
Unfortunately, the moderate calls of “stay at home” in the early days turned into hate speeches that are exclusionary, insulting and sometimes offensive after the curfew which had been imposed on senior citizens.
The measures to protect high risk group of elderly population made the discriminative and exclusionary attitude of the society ,that is on the ground of anxious and fear, visible. Akdeniz University Faculty Member and Chairman of the Aging Studies Association Ozgur Arun, answered our questions in a special broadcast of the STGM. While Arun said that ageism towards older people is not a new situation, he also claimed that it became visible by the spread of the epidemic.
* The language of the video is Turkish.
“We observe that in the crisis situations, discrimination becomes more severe and becomes widespread and these attitudes turn into a behavior” Arun said. He also underlined the steps to be taken by reducing chronological age will limit the rights and cause the further spread of ageism. “Old age, illness and decrepitude are not synonyms.” said Arun, who also stated that one of the first steps to struggle with age discriminative behavior and attitude which exists in everyday life but becomes visible in times of crisis, is at discoursive level.