Implementation issues

AuthorKaran, Ula?
Pages105-107
105
8 IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES
8.1 Dissemination of information, dialogue with NGOs and between social
partners
a) Dissemination of information about legal protection against discrimination (Article 10
Directive 2000/43 and Article 12 Directive 2000/78)
As the Directives are not transposed, no specific action has been taken by the Turkish
Government to disseminate information about legal protection against discrimination.
b) Measures to encourage dialogue with NGOs with a view to promoting the principle of
equal treatment (Article 12 Directive 2000/43 and Article 14 Directive 2000/78)
In Turkey, the Government does not adopt measures to encourage dialogue with NGOs
with a view to promote the principle of equal treatment.
The Turkish Government develops policies, designs laws and adopts executive measures
in the area of human rights and anti-discrimination without consulting NGOs or, in the rare
cases where it does so, without taking into account their suggestions or criticisms. Most
recently, the Law on the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey was adopted
‘behind closed doors’ without the knowledge and participation of civil society.377 Similarly,
the Action Plan on Prevention of Violations of the European Convention on Human Rights
was adopted in 2014378 without the involvement of civil society.379 The European
Commission has stated that: ‘There was limited implementation of the 2014 Action Plan
on preventing violations of the ECHR. The implementation reports are not made public,
thus limiting the accountability of institutions responsible for implementation.’380 In
developing the new Action Plan, a series of meetings was conducted with scholars, trade
unions and NGOs in 2019.381 However, as the new plan has not yet been published, it is
not known whether the views expressed by NGOs have been taken into account.
In rare cases in which NGOs are invited to provide opinions and proposals on pending laws,
their input is not (fully) taken into consideration at the drafting stage. For example, an
initial version of the anti-discrimination law was distributed to universities and NGOs for
their contributions and was revised on the basis of their feedback. However, the
Government subsequently amended the text that had been agreed on and, despite the
protests of the LGBTI movement and the NGOs that had collaborated on the draft, removed
‘sexual identity’ from the prohibited grounds of discrimination. Since the Regulation on the
Drafting of Legislation that was previously in force has been repealed, there is no
mechanism for taking the opinions of NGOs on board in the preparation of draft legislation.
377 Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, Human Rights Association, Association of Human Rights and Solidarity
with the Oppressed, Helsinki Citizens Assembly, Human Rights Agenda Association, Human Rights Studies
Association and Amnesty International Turkey Branch (joint statement), ‘Government Statement regarding
the Establishment of the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey: The Issue of the
Institutionalization of Human Rights is Perceived Fully from an Instrumental Perspective’, 18 January 2016,
available at: https://ihd.org.tr/en/government-statement-regarding-the-establishment-of-the-human-
rights-and-equality-institution-of-turkey-the-issue-of-the-institutionalization-of-human-rights-is-perceived-
fully-from-an-instrumental-p/.
378 Avrupa İnsan Hakları Sözleşmesi İhlallerinin Önlenmesine İlişkin Eylem Planı (Action Plan on Prevention of
Violations of the European Convention on Human Rights), Official Gazette, 1 March 2014.
379 European Commission (2014), Turkey Progress Report, Brussels, p. 48, available at:
https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/pdf/key_documents/2014/20141008-
turkey-progress-report_en.pdf.
380 European Commission (2019), Turkey 2019 Report, Brussels, p. 29, available at:
https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/20190529-turkey-report.pdf.
381 See Ministry of Justice Department of Human Rights, Faaliyetler’ (‘Activities’), available at:
https://inhak.adalet.gov.tr/Home/TumHaberler/1.

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