On 19-20 September 2018, the Council of Europe Project on “Protection of Rights of Refugees and Migrants in Turkey” organised a seminar for the staff of the Directorate General for Migration Management (DGMM) in Ankara. The seminar provided a complete view on combatting human trafficking in national and international context, with a particular focus on child trafficking. A foundational understanding of human trafficking and modern-day slavery, especially related to various typologies of slave-like exploitation today, legal framework of human trafficking and relevant case-law of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Cassation, Turkey’s fight against human trafficking and international best practices to combat human trafficking were discussed.

The seminar started with the welcoming speeches of Michael Ingledow, Head of Ankara Programme Office of the Council of Europe and Selami Yazici, Head of Migration Policies and Projects Department, Ministry of Interior Directorate General of Migration Management.

During the first day of the Seminar, devoted to the international legal framework and practice on combating human trafficking; a presentation on the definition of human trafficking and existing forms of exploitation was made by Dr Vera Gracheva, international expert on combating trafficking in human beings and a former member of the OSCE Secretariat (Office of the Special Representative for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings). The European Court of Human Rights case-law on human trafficking was presented by Gizem Ulic, lawyer of the European Court of Human Rights; the measures to combat child trafficking, with a particular focus on unaccompanied minors and separated children were shared by Polat Kizildağ, Child Protection Officer, UNICEF, Ankara. A presentation on the protection of victims of human trafficking under international instruments was made by Tuğçe Duygu Köksal, lawyer of Istanbul Bar Association and it was followed by a presentation of Ozge Hassa, Project Manager of International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) Ankara, on the best practices to combat human trafficking.

On the second day, devoted to the national legal framework and practice on combating human trafficking; Prof. Dr Çetin Arslan, Director of the Department for Criminal and Criminal Procedure Law, Hacettepe University Law Faculty made a presentation on the definition and the elements of human trafficking crime within Turkish criminal law, and its comparison to similar crimes. Rıfat Sagut, Prosecutor, the Court of Cassation, analysed trafficking in human beings in Turkish criminal law and in the relevant case-law of Court of Cassation. Turkey’s Fight Against Human Trafficking was explained by Mustafa Salıhpasaoglu, Migration Expert, Ministry of Interior Directorate General of Migration Management while case-studies on human trafficking in Turkey were presented by Rabia Soyutürk, Assistant Migration Expert from Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Migration Management and by Melda Arslan, Assistant Migration Expert from Directorate General of Migration Management. The seminar ended with the speech on the role of Directorate General of Migration Management in human trafficking cases given by of Gamze Gül Çakir Kilic, Lawyer from Ministry of Interior Directorate General of Migration Management.