Within the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019 – 2022”, and in co-operation with the Presidency of Migration Management (PMM), the roundtable meeting on the inter-organisational co-ordination in investigation and prosecution procedures on trafficking in human beings was organised in Turkey. The event took place in Istanbul on 6-8 December 2021.
The meeting brought together 55 representatives from all national institutions involved in the prosecution and investigation of cases of trafficking in human beings, namely the Presidency of Migration Management (PMM), Ministry of Justice, the Gendarmerie General Command, the Coast Guard Command, and the Directorate General of Security.
During the roundtable, Osman Koramaz (Head of Department, Presidency of Migration Management), Murat Çetinkaya (Head of Department, General Directorate of Legislation, Ministry of Justice), Öner Şahin (Head of Department, Department of Human Rights, Ministry of Justice), Ergin Yılmaz (Major, Gendarmerie Genal Command, Ministry of Interior), Seçil Parkan (Head of Department, General Directorate of Judicial Records and Statistics, Ministry of Justice) and Rıfat Sagut (Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation) provided in-depth information and expertise when it comes to trafficking in human beings (THB) in Turkey. While all actors presented the developments of their anti-THB actions, relevant judgments of the Court of Cassation and of the ECtHR, the offence of THB in the Turkish Criminal Code, relevant statistics, as well as the regulations on laundering and confiscation of assets derived from THB offences were shared and discussed upon.
Representatives of each institution took advantage of the occasion to consult each other, discuss issues encountered in the field, provide collaborative solutions to these issues, and thus strengthen their co-ordination and co-operation in investigation and prosecution procedures, while raising awareness on the offence of trafficking in human beings in Turkey.
This initiative is supported by the action “Strengthening the human rights protection of migrants and victims of human trafficking in Turkey” implemented in the framework of the joint European Union/Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”.
