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 Vahit Bicak further stated that despite legal amendments, the freedom given to civil society for assembling is still insufficient.
(ANKARA - Turkish Daily News, 9 February 2004)
The Prime Ministry Human Rights Institute Head Vahit Bicak, stated that freedom of assembly is not a security concern, "despite the legal amendments that have been made in accordance with the process of the EU harmonisation program, it is not possible to declare that the freedom of assembly given to the civil society for their activities is sufficient, reported the Anatolia news agency on Feb. 7, 2004.
Bicak further claimed that "the legal changes made in general and particularly on the Association law in accordance with the EU harmonisation program mean revolution; however, there is still much to be done." He further stated that in order to eliminate the shortcomings about the freedom of assembly, the Association law should be amended at once to comply with a liberal understanding, instead of changing the law piece by piece.
Bicak further stressed that the activities of civil society has not reached the level desired despite 72,000 associations operating actively out of 152,000 associations in Turkey. He further claimed that freedom of assembly is not a security concern, and that after the legal amendments have been made, the security departments of the government have stopped controlling the associations works and activities.
He further stressed that in order to get rid of the untrust and lack of dialog between the people and state, the office where the necessary works and actions to be performed for the associations are taken from the security departments and given to the Associations Branch within the Interior Ministry and that the Associations Directorates have been established in the cities.
"With the new legal changes the associations will be able to have activities internationally and legal entities also would be able to set up associations and be members of them," stated Bicak.
Bicak claimed that Turkey has achieved great improvements in the field of human rights, and that Parliament will enact further legislations in the near future.
"930 Human Rights Institutes have been established in order to raise human rights awareness with 14,000 people working all over the country to enhance human rights standards."
Bicak also said, "The Reform Observing Group" composed of Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul, Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek, Secretary General for EU affairs and himself as the head of the Human Rights Institute convenes every month to discuss human rights issues in Turkey and that the group implements its decisions rapidly. |
