The European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe (CoE) have reaffirmed their commitment to support the authorities of Türkiye in their reform processes in the future with the aim of meeting European standards in crucial areas – protection of human rights of citizens of Türkiye, of migrants and victims of human trafficking and to ensure better access to justice for women.

This was underlined during the third meeting of the Beneficiary Steering Committee of the joint European Union/Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.

In her introductory remarks, Çagrı Çakır, Head of Department of Political Affairs in the Directorate for the European Union of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye, underlined that the CoE standards and EU acquis are guiding for Türkiye in its reform processes. “Sustainability, effective communications, multi-partner structure – these words set forward the spirit of the Horizontal Facility programme and these are the words we attach great importance to, and they are the principles we adopt. We have a great opportunity today to appreciate all the work done under this programme”, she said.

“The Council of Europe, together with the European Union and in partnership with the beneficiaries, is committed to supporting Türkiye in continuity to further consolidate the results of the second phase of the programme as well as to prepare for the next phase of the Horizontal Facility”, said Verena Taylor, Director of the Office of Council of Europe Directorate General of Programmes. “We can see already some concrete achievements in Türkiye, but it could even further benefit from the expertise of the Council of Europe under the Programme by using the Expertise Co-ordination Mechanism for legal and policy texts”, she said.

“I would like to underline the importance of the Horizontal Facility as a key instrument for promoting joint EU and Council of Europe standards and values in Turkey”, said on this occasion the Head of Operational Section for Civil Society, Fundamental Rights, Judiciary and Home Affairs at the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey, Alexander Fricke. As he noted, rule of law, fundamental rights and strengthening democratic institutions are at the core of EU fundamentals first policy.

“I would like to thank to the Council of Europe, to institutions of Turkey and to the CSO representatives for their commitment and engagement in this programme. I hope the next phase of the programme will include relevant projects for Turkey,” concluded Fricke.

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Notable results were achieved during the last three years of implementation, despite the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the implementation of the activities under the Horizontal Facility II in Türkiye.

In the field of ensuring justice, the programme facilitated a dialogue between legal practitioners, academics, and policymakers on legislation and practices regarding custody and pre-trial detention. More than 200 legal practitioners strengthened their knowledge on European standards in this area. Moreover, the capacities on conducting and monitoring visits to places where children are deprived of their liberty and on alternatives to immigration detention.

When it comes to the protection of human rights of migrants and victims of human trafficking, further support was provided to the capacity building of legal professionals and authorities. A victim-centered approach remained key to all anti-trafficking activities to promote recognition of trafficking in human beings as a fundamental affront to human rights and dignity, and to strengthen the understanding of victims’ rights among anti-trafficking stakeholders. Civil society organisations (CSOs) have been an important partner in capacity building activities and dialogues, where they were able to share best practices on the provision of assistance to victims of trafficking, awareness raising and other measures to combat trafficking in human beings.

In the past year, the role of CSOs and municipalities has been crucial in carrying out public awareness-raising initiatives on human rights protection of migrants and victims of human trafficking. In that regard, five grants were provided to five municipalities to raise awareness on child trafficking and trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation in Türkiye to sensitise the public on the risks relates to both phenomena.

With the support of the programme, the HELP course on “Access to justice for women” was translated and adapted for use of legal professionals in Türkiye promoting women’s human rights and access to justice in line with European standards. More than 265 legal aid lawyers from four pilot bar associations have already successfully completed the course, thereby raising their awareness on barriers to women’s access to justice and developing their capacities to adopt gender-sensitive legal practices. Furthermore, four local CSOs were awarded small grants for increasing legal literacy and awareness among women, particularly victims of violence and refugee women, to claim and exercise their rights as rights-holders.