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THE OMBUDSMAN INSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF TÜRKİYE

As a result of the examination and investigation conducted by our institution, we have
a direct contribution to the reduction of the workload of the courts with the help of
our 4,870 amicable settlement decisions, recommendation decisions and legal aid,
as well as helping the formation of a transparent, accountable and human-oriented
administration. As a result of all these, the Institution has become a means of supervis-
ing the public institutions and organisations through the complaints it examines, and
the participation of citizens in the state administration, especially local administrations,
has been ensured, contributing to the strengthening of democracy in our country as a
tool of direct democracy.

One of the most important aspects that differentiates our Institution from other super-
vision mechanisms is that it examines the applications while at the same time detecting
the problem areas in practice and the unlawfulness in the legislation, and that it can
make recommendations to amend a legislation in order to prevent possible unlawful
practices, violations of right or unfair practices. At this point, the aim of the Institution
is to prevent violations of individuals’ rights and violations of justice, as well as to
prevent violations against individuals who are experiencing a similar situation. In this
respect, the decisions made as a result of the examination made by or Institution do not
only affect the applicant, they also affect tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of
people who are experiencing a similar situation.

In this context, the Institution sometimes issues decisions that affect a particular occu-
pational group, an entire city or hundreds of thousands of people who were victimised
by the same situation. For instance,

- Our Recommendations to remove the process of handover of children from
the enforcement system and to create “family meeting points/child handover
centers” and our Recommendation to discuss the “Family Mediation System”
in order to handle divorce proceedings in a healthier way affect the parties of
142,488 divorce suits filed in 2018.

- Our Recommendation regarding the necessary legislative amendment for people
who have been discriminated against due to their religious belief or been dis-
missed or removed from office during the February 28 Process (Coup in Türkiye)
concerns approximately 300 thousand people.

- Our Recommendation on the issue of taking special measures for disabled public
officials in the legislation related to public housing concerns about 53 thousand
disabled public officials.

- Our Recommendation to make the necessary regulations regarding stray animals
affects all animal lovers and people who have been negatively affected by stray
animals in Türkiye.

130 2019 ANNUAL REPORT