On 4 March 2021, In Ankara, the European Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) course on “Asylum and European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)” was launched in Turkey. The online event brought together 40 lawyers of the Bursa Bar Association with the tutor of the course, the representatives of the HELP platform and the action team.

In their opening speeches, both the President of the Bursa Bar Association Mr. Gürkan ALTUN and the Head of Ankara Programme Office of the Council of Europe Mr. Cristian URSE highlighted the importance of the course for the lawyers, having in mind the high number of migrants in the country. The head of the HELP Unit Ms. Eva PASTRANA emphasised that Turkey was one of the countries with highest number of users on the HELP platform and that this number was increasing every day. It was also stated that due to the high demand for HELP Courses, several launches and virtual classes were to be organised for the lawyers of the Bursa Bar Association, for all six courses provided by the action, namely “Alternatives to Immigration Detention”, “CPT Standards”, “Prohibition of Ill-Treatment”, “Refugee and Migrant Children” and “Child Friendly Justice”.

The HELP Course on “Asylum and ECHR” covers the key provisions of the European Convention of Human Rights and the related case-law of the European Court of Human Rights which are particularly relevant for asylum-seekers and refugees.

The course was provided within the framework of the action “Strengthening the human rights protection of migrants and victims of human trafficking in Turkey”, part of the joint European Union/Council of Europe Programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.

HELP courses are accessible for free on the HELP online platform.