persons with disabilities, Civil Society Organizations and Disabled Persons Organizations cannot participate in the process of determining data collection policies. No public institution including The General Directorate of Services for Persons with Disabilities and Elderly (EYHGM), which is the focal institution on this issue, knows about the current situation on the number of persons with disabilities, gender and age distribution, education and employment status, the obstacles they face, in which provinces or districts where they live in. The lack of data on the persons with disabilities, especially who live in rural areas, poses a significant problem in terms of identifying and meeting the needs of persons with disabilities living in these areas. Moreover, it is not possible to obtain data on persons with disabilities who are at risk of multiple discrimination. In this respect, the number of persons with disabilities who belong to a minority group, Roma or Kurdish persons with disabilities, refugees, asylum seekers who are persons with disabilities remain unknown, because the information is not available to the public. In its Concluding Observations on the combined fourth to sixth periodic reports of Turkey dated 11 th January 2016, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has recommended Turkey to collect data on minority groups to monitor access to justice for minorities.16 The data on voting rates of voters with disabilities were shared in Replies of Turkey to the List of Issues. However, regarding the information given to Question 33(a), issues such as, how the data collected and which provinces and regions included were not mentioned, so these issues remain unknown.17 This data shared with the Committee is not publicly available or confirmable information. Official statements of the YSK are neither included in the website nor in the publications. The database for persons with disabilities who have obtained a 40% disability medical report do not even include all the persons who have obtained a medical report; even though it has been 14 years since the database was formed by the General Directorate of Services for Persons with Disabilities and Elderly (EYHGM) in the year 2006. While workshops and seminars which are frequently declared in the report are important, the results of these meetings have not changed the data collection policy. 16 Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Concluding Observations on the fourth to sixth periodic reports of Turkey. CERD/C/TUR/CO/4-6. http://undocs.org/CERD/C/TUR/CO/4-6 17 Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Replies of Turkey to the list of issues, (CRPD/C/TUR/Q/1/Add.1). https://undocs.org/CRPD/C/TUR/Q/1/Add.1, page 23, Question 33(a). 29