Turkish police officers to learn ‘Survivor English’ for World Cup

Turan YILMAZ / ANKARA

Turkish police that will take charge in the World Cup organization in Qatar will participate in English courses to learn “Survivor English,” the deputy director-general of public security has said.

The parliamentary committee on foreign affairs recently approved a protocol allowing some 3,251 Turkish police officers to provide security in World Cup 2022 that will take place between Nov. 21 and Dec. 18.

Erhan Gülveren, the deputy director-general of public security, answered some questions of opposition lawmakers who are concerned about the decision.

Highlighting the high capacity of the Turkish police units, Gülveren started his address by giving an example about it.

“The police representative of the U.N. was here in Turkey last week. Many police officers from different countries who will take charge under the U.N. got training here. This shows that the standard and capacity of our police [department] is beyond the European standards and approved by the U.N.”

When asked if the police officers who will go to Qatar have been selected, the police chief said, “Not yet.”

Underlining that the selection will be based on voluntariness, Gülveren pointed out a date sometime after May.

“May and June are the months of assignments of the police officers. We will do research and make a decision on where we will employ our qualified personnel,” he said.

The police chief also threw light on lawmakers’ concern about the “language issue.”

“Personnel who know English or Arabic may be preferred,” said Gülveren, adding that the selected personnel will join language courses to learn “Survivor English.”

“We are planning a training program, including a language course not in broad terms, but which may roughly be called ‘Survivor English.’”

The program will also include training about the living conditions, public orders, traditions, criminal laws and general knowledge about Qatar.

“The Turkish police units will not act under the command of the Qatari administration or the Qatari police,” Gülveren added.

On Dec. 10, 2021, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu announced that Turkish police units will be dispatched to the World Cup 2022 organization just two days after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Qatar.

“Many countries from Europe had also applied to Qatar to provide security, but Qatar gave this job to Turkey,” Soylu said.

Apart from personnel, Turkey will also send search dogs.