Training of Military Judges and Prosecutors on Human Rights Issues Project Ended with the Closing Ceremony

Programmed under 2007 national programme with 2 Million Euro budget and implemented through direct grant with the Council of Europe, the project of which the beneficiary is the Ministry of National Defence, has been finalized in the wake of "International Conference on Military Justice Systems in the Light of the ECHR: practice in Türkiye and other European Countries" which has been held on 12-13 December 2012.

The closing event of the project has been honoured by Excellency Mr. İsmet YILMAZ, Minister of National Defence, Excellency Mr. Alaattin BÜYÜKKAYA, Ph.D., Deputy Minister for European Union Affairs and Representative of High Judicial Bodies with the presence of the Director of Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Mr. Bela SZOMBATI, Minister Counsellor, Deputy Head of Delegation of the European Union to Türkiye. The ceremony has also been attended by the representative of contracting authority, representatives of Committees of The European Union Harmonization, Human Rights and Legislation of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, and members of military and civilian justice bodies.

Contributions of the project particularly to the military justice system in terms of reaching the European Human Rights Standards and transferring the knowledge gained in the course of the implementation of the project to the younger generations through the trainer pools that have been established with the project has been underlined by the speakers during the closing event.

In his address, Excellency Mr. BÜYÜKKAYA, underscored that the European Union Membership of Türkiye has become a project based on cherish for peace and civilization rather than economic reasons. Taking due note of democracy and human rights and referring to the unfairness of the European Union towards Türkiye's membership and mentioning the reforms that have been made in parallel to the implementation of the project, Mr. BÜYÜKKAYA has declared that Türkiye will continue taking steps firmly and steadfastly towards fully meeting the Copenhagen Criteria and democratic principles.