The Certificate Ceremony for judges and prosecutors who had completed the Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) courses on “Asylum and ECHR” and “Combatting Human Trafficking” was held on 8 November at the Ankara Hilton SA Hotel, in cooperation with the Human Rights Department of the Ministry of Justice of Turkey, under the Action on “Strengthening the human rights protection of migrants and victims of human trafficking in Turkey”. The event brought together judges and prosecutors from different cities in Turkey with the representatives of Council of Europe, the Ministry of Justice of Turkey, the trainers of the courses and the Action team. Deputy Ministers of Justice Mr Yakup Moğul and Mr Hasan Yılmaz attended the event to present the certificates to the participants.
In their opening speeches, the Head of Operations in Ankara Programme Office of the Council of Europe, Ms Pınar Başpınar and the Head of Cooperation Programs Division of the Council of Europe, Ms Lilja Gretarsdottir emphasised the importance of the cooperation with the Ministry of Justice for the Council of Europe. The Head of HELP Division of the Council of Europe, Ms Eva Pastrana gave a general overview of the courses offered by the HELP online platform and expressed her pleasure concerning the launch of three new HELP courses: Refugee and Migrant Children; Alternatives to Immigration Detention, and Child Friendly Justice.
The Head of Department of the Human Rights Department of Ministry of Justice, Mr Hacı Ali Açıkgül highlighted the importance of the courses for legal professionals and congratulated the participants awarded certificates for their completion of the HELP courses by making time in their busy work schedules.
Deputy Minister of Justice Mr. Yakup Moğul stated that Turkey is a founding member of the Council of Europe and reiterated the importance they attached to the cooperation with the Council of Europe.
Mr Yakup Moğul presented certificates of appreciation to Mr Muhammet Taha Büyüktavşan, Mr. Ramazan Tekin and Mr Sadi Demir for their contribution to the completion of HELP courses as facilitators. He also conveyed his congratulations to the participants who were entitled to receive certificates and presented their certificates.
Following the certificate ceremony, the launch of 3 new HELP courses was held online. ECtHR Judge Mr Faris Vehabovic gave a speech on “the ECtHR jurisprudence on current issues related to asylum and migration”. Ms Eva Pastrana and Mr Muhammet Taha Küçüktavşan introduced the courses and gave information about their general scope. This was followed by presentations of the course tutors.
The HELP Certificate Ceremony was organised within the framework of the Action “Strengthening the human rights protection of migrants and victims of human trafficking in Turkey”, part of the European Union/Council of Europe collaboration “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.
