I Was Unable to Attend Final Exams Because of Turkish Airlines

Hello, I am a student from the earthquake region of Adana. I purchased two round-trip tickets from Adana to Istanbul to attend my university final exams. However, due to the decision of the Higher Education Council (YÖK) to switch to remote education, I am unable to travel to Istanbul. Therefore, 25 days before the flight, on May 24, I called THY customer service to inform them of the situation. During my conversation with the customer representative, I was told that the most sensible option was to keep the tickets open by paying a ₺400 penalty. Additionally, after paying the ₺400 penalty, I was informed that I could use the amount I paid for these tickets (₺1313) for any flight within a year. However, on August 29, I called customer service to use this open ticket amount to purchase a one-way ticket to Istanbul as my university was reopening. The customer representative informed me that besides the difference between the ticket I wanted to purchase and the amount I had open, I would also need to pay a ₺250 transaction fee and over ₺200 in tax differences. I mentioned that I had already paid a ₺400 penalty and that charging an additional over ₺400 was excessive. However, the representative stated that no penalty was charged when keeping the ticket open. This situation surprised me. Now, did I unnecessarily pay a ₺400 penalty as the representative stated, or is the representative not familiar with the procedure? I request that my phone calls be reviewed to provide me with the most accurate information and to resolve this grievance. I cannot provide feedback as my ticket is still open.