An Evaluation of UNHCR Turkey’s Compliance with UNHCR’s RSD Procedural Standards Helsinki Citizens' Assembly prepared an evaluation report on UNHCR Turkey's compliance with UNHCR's Refugee Status Determination Procedural Standards, with the overall aim of assessing UNHCR Ankara office's compliance with specific aspects of the Standards and make relevant recommendations.
New Tactics in Human Rights International Symposium, Final Report, [October, 2004] The New Tactics in Human Rights International Symposium was the first training meeting of its kind, bringing together human rights activists from a broad range of disciplines to focus not on a single issue or region but on a full range of tactical possibilities and possible solutions.
“Freedom of Association in the Process of EU Reforms”, The Monitoring - Evaluation Meeting Report, [December, 2004] The last meeting of the project “Freedom of Association in the Process of EU Reforms”, namely the “Monitoring – Evaluation” meeting aimed at evaluating the amendments made in the legislation throughout 2004 within the framework of integration with the EU and the point Turkey has reached in the field of freedom of association in parallel to the outcomes of the two study meetings held in early 2004 and at creating a general framework for the monitoring activities to take place in this field.
“Freedom of Association in the Process of EU Reforms”, The Study Meeting Report, [February, 2004] We held our first meeting of the project “Freedom of Association in the Process of EU Reforms”, a project that aims at developing an understanding of dialogue and negotiation in freedom of association between non-governmental organizations and public administrators, in Ankara on 22-24 February 2004. During the first part of this first study meeting, The Study Report prepared by the Study Group of Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly (hCa) was presented and discussed with the participants; the practical and legislative problems encountered by the associations were identified during the workshops; and finally, suggestions were received as to how to overcome the practical and legislative problems identified during discussions.
LINGUISTIC RIGHTS IN EUROPE: A General Perspective – Part I. [December, 2003] Language is central to human identity. It is one of the key points of reference for self-identification as individuals, as well as in relation to a community. Thus, debates surrounding language can be extremely charged, especially within the context of multicultural societies. Besides being a determinant in questions of identity, language is also a tool for social organisation. As a result, choices made by States in the use of language, especially in the public sphere of governance, have a bearing on access to important public goods, thus constituting either a means to or obstacle in the way of social integration.
LINGUISTIC RIGHTS IN EUROPE: A General Perspective - Part II. [December, 2003] Despite an estimated 40 million speakers of regional or minority languages within the borders of the European Union Member States, discussion surrounding language in the EU has mainly revolved around the representation of official languages of its Member States within EU institutions as official and working languages. It is quite difficult to enter substantive debate on linguistic rights and the status of regional and minority languages in the European Union context since the term does not even appear in its Treaties. Although the EU is more than an intergovernmental institution, it cannot create competencies by itself and its Member States have been reluctant to give any to the Union regarding the protection and promotion of regional and minority languages.
Freedom of Expression and Association - A New Legal Framework, Study Report [September, 2002] The right and freedom of association and of public assembly are fundamentally integral dimensions of the freedom of expression. In other words, the freedom of expression embodies the freedom of openly declaring, stating and disseminating thoughts, ideas and in particular political views; establishing organizations, and associating with these organizations; organizing public meetings and demonstrations; communicating information; as well as acquiring and transferring information; and doing all these without fearing punitive action or prevention.
hCa Statement Regarding the Latest Developments in Palestine [April, 2002] ISRAEL MUST STOP ITS INVASION POLICIES AND ACCEPT THE LAUNCH OF THE PEACE PROCESS...
ALL ACTS OF VIOLENCE TARGETING CIVIL POPULATIONS IN THE REGION MUST BE IMMEDIATELY STOPPED...
USA MUST CHANGE ITS ATTITUDE THAT IMPEDES THE IMPLEMENTATION OF UN DECISIONS IN THE REGION...
Civic Perspectives For An Armed Conflict [June 1995] hCa-Turkey started its activities on the 'Kurdish issue' in 1992. At a press conference a declaration was released "Thoughts on Diyarbakır Events", signed by the Turkish hCa and 100 intellectuals from all over Turkey. It was issued on the occasion of the murdering of Vedat Aydın, the chairperson of the Turkish Human Rights Association, Diyarbakır Branch. The meeting was followed by the organization of an international delegation (February 8-12, 1992) which met Kurdish and Turkish intellectuals, politicians and local people, in Istanbul, Ankara and Diyarbakır. The aim of this mission was to get better understanding of the political views on the Kurdish question and to find partners from both the Kurdish and the Turkish communities, with whom a dialogue could be established in a situation where people were suffering from the oppression of the Turkish state, and terror of the PKK.
