Türkiye confident to defend human rights record at EU negotiations

As Türkiye’s hopes for EU accession revive, head of Turkey’s human rights agency says human rights enforcement system in Turkey meets global standards.

By Iftikhar Gilani (Muslim Network TV)

ANKARA, Türkiye – As negotiations for Türkiye’s accession to the European Union (EU) are set to resume, the head of Turkey’s Human Rights and Equality Institution (HREIT), Muharrem Kilic, said the country is fully prepared to defend its human rights record and system of accountability.

Citing human rights concerns, the European Parliament had voted to suspend accession talks with Türkiye in February 2019. Back in 2016, the European Commission temporarily suspended accession negotiations for similar reasons.

Last month, however, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised Turkey’s EU membership bid during a NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. He received support from the U.S. and pledges from some European countries to seek admission to the 27-member bloc.

In an exclusive interview with Muslim Network TV, Kilic, a former professor and department head at Türkiye prestigious Yildirim Beyazit University, said the issues of human rights and equality have long been central to talks with the EU.

He said his organization, which is a quasi-judicial authority, has established effective mechanisms at the theoretical, legislative and implementation levels to ensure global standards for human rights and equality.

“In Türkiye, great progress has been at legislative level. Many laws on human rights and institutional mechanisms have been established over time,” he said.

Established by a parliamentary law in 2016, the HREIT consists of 11 members and acts as both a human rights watchdog and an equality commission to ensure that there is no discrimination in society and in the hiring of people in both the government and private sectors.

“We have three mandates: to protect and promote human rights. We have the power to investigate cases ourselves without waiting for complaints. Our second mandate is that of the Equality Body, which deals with discrimination issues. In this case, we receive complaints from individuals, and our third mandate as the National Preventive Mechanism is to ensure the enforcement of the United Nations Convention against Torture,” he said.

Under the law, discrimination is prohibited on 15 grounds. These include sex, race, color, language, religion, belief, sect, philosophical or political opinion, ethnic origin, property, birth, marital status, health condition, disability and age. Anyone who feels discriminated against on any of these grounds may contact the Commission for redress free of charge.

-HREIT receives U.N. accreditation

Last year in October, HREIT got accreditation from the United Nations-led Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI). The GANHRI is based in Geneva and represents 120  national human rights institutions from different regions. Recently, the GANHRI deferred the accreditation of India’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and suspended the accreditation of Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation.

Kilic, a doctorate in law who has held several academic and administrative positions, said Türkiye’s progress in the field of human rights has been mentioned in various European reports. He stressed that many mechanisms have been put in place to prevent torture and ill-treatment during detention and that his organization visits such security facilities unannounced to get on-site information.

“We regularly conduct visits to places where persons deprived of their liberty are held, such as prisons, deportation centers, psychiatric hospitals, social care homes, etc.,” he said.

Last year, his team conducted 63 such visits.

HREIT is also an active member of the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI), he said. He added that his organization has contributed to ENNHRI reports on the rule of law over the past three years.

Kilic, who studied at Marmara University in Türkiye and in Pakistan, said his organization handled 109 complaints last year and in 38 cases involving discrimination, the perpetrators were handed over a penalty in the form of imposing heavy fines. He said most of the complaints received were about discrimination based on disability, followed by gender bias.

“There are national human rights bodies all over the world. But there are only five bodies, which include ours, that have the power to impose fines on violations. We have the mandate to impose administrative fines, not only on state agencies and individuals, but also on companies,” he said.

Following the earthquake that rocked southeastern Türkiye, as housing rents skyrocketed, Kilic’s organization reminded homeowners that they can be prosecuted under the law. Observers say his intervention has helped to put curbs on rents.

“The exorbitant price increases of those who take advantage of the situation in which the whole country is united lead to the violation of the right to housing and accommodation, which is one of the basic human rights,” he said.

-Work against Islamophobia

HREIT also works with its colleagues around the world to raise awareness about Islamophobia and its consequences. In January 2023, Kilic wrote a letter to 41 national human rights institutions around the world calling for institutional awareness of human rights violations that can result from rising anti-Islam and xenophobia.

When asked about the importance of national human rights institutions, which are often criticized by nongovernmental organizations, he told MNTV that these institutions acted as a bridge between state authorities and voluntary groups working for human rights. He added that the establishment of national human rights institutions by a state meant incorporating international norms into the state structure.

-Plight of asylum seekers

Kilic said HREIT also addressed the problems of migrants and asylum seekers, who are often ruthlessly pushed back by European states. He said he had written to his counterpart in Greece asking for a visit to the Greek islands to study the migrants’ problems. He said pushback operations and migration are a common concern for both sides in the Aegean. However, he regretted that there was no response from Greek authorities.

Greece-led push backs along Türkiye’s Izmir coast have killed 12 foreigners in the past three years. Some 2459 asylum seekers, including 301 from Afghanistan, 647 from Palestine, 238 from Congo, 126 from Somalia and 152 from Syria, were victims of pushbacks in 2022.

He cited a case in which 250 asylum seekers and irregular migrants of various nationalities, including women and children, had taken a boat from Izmir to Greece. They had paid smugglers about 3,000 euros for the crossing.

“They were beaten with batons by the Greek police who boarded their boats and pushed back by creating a big wave in the sea. The command of the Turkish Coast Guard reached them in a very short time and saved their lives,” HREIT said in his report assessing the pushback measures of EU countries.

Recently, the European Parliament had welcomed Turkey’s readiness to act as a mediator in Russia’s war against Ukraine and stressed the crucial importance of good cooperation between the EU and Türkiye in foreign and security policy in the current difficult times.

An European Parliament report has praised Türkiye’s efforts to host the largest refugee population in the world. Members of the European Parliament also supported the European Commission’s proposal to start negotiations to update a mutually beneficial customs union.