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THE OMBUDSMAN INSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF TÜRKİYE

responds to individuals’ information requests. In 2020, through our Information
Office, which works like a call center, information requests of 184.758 persons in total
were responded, which include:

• Phone calls (including outgoing and incoming calls),
• Information requests through e-mails,

• Applications for information filed within the framework of Law on Access to
Information No. 4982,

• Face to face meetings with citizens who came to our Institution and our Istanbul
Office in person, through Regional Meetings of the Ombudsman Institution
with Citizens, Provincial Working Visits, Meetings with Primary Schools and
High Schools, University Conferences, Video Conferences and Live Broadcasts
on Social Media, and Meetings to Spread the Culture of Seeking Legal Remedies
internationally.

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 91,100 amicable settlement decisions, decisions of refusal, 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 supervising the public institutions and organizations through the complaints
it handles, and the participation of citizens in the state administration, especially
local administrations, has been ensured; thereby, our Institution contributed 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
supervision 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 our Institution
do not only affect the applicant, also affect tens of thousands or even hundreds of
thousands of people who are experiencing a similar situation.

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

2020 ANNUAL REPORT 53