Country of origin information report Turkey March 2007

Return to contents

Go to list of sources
30.08 As stated by the Turkish Ministry of the Interior in September 2003, records are erased from the system under the following circumstances:
(i) Upon the death of a person convicted of a crime by a court;

(ii) As soon as a court decision of non-pursuit, acquittal or expiry of time limitation reaches the Turkish National Police (TNP) regarding a person who was previously registered in the GBTS;

(iii) In case of a crime other than those listed above, when the person is caught;

(iv) In case of stolen/lost/appropriated property, when the property in question is found. [17]

30.09 Only the latest warrant of arrest is held on file. The others are cancelled. Information about convicted persons is stored at the Judicial Registry Office (Adli Sicil Mudurlukleri), rather then on the GBTS. [17]
30.10 The Turkish Ministry of the Interior stated in September 2003 that “Only records of people who are under judicial proceedings or judicial examination are kept on the GBTS. No records of people are kept on the system who are detained and [subsequently] released by the security forces.” [17]
30.11 The Swiss Organisation for Refugees in its report published June 2003 stated that “Experience has shown, however, that despite its name, this [GBTS] system does not by any means contain all the information relating to a given individual. Concrete examples have demonstrated that individuals are generally only entered onto the system following prosecution or issue of an arrest warrant by the public prosecutor or a court.” [8] (p41)
30.12 However, the Swiss Organisation for Refugees also stated that “In several cases we have discovered that individuals who have been denounced as PKK activists or sympathisers show up as not being sought and therefore do not appear on the register even though authentic police statements prove that they have been denounced by name.” [8] (p41)
30.13 The report continued “It should be mentioned that in addition to the GBTS central information system, the various security forces each have their own information systems… They include the registers of the police, the anti-terrorist department, the gendarmerie, JITEM, the military secret service etc. It is therefore perfectly possible for someone not to be listed on the central system but to be sought by the anti-terrorist unit.” [8] (p41)
30.14 The Swiss Organisation for Refugees further stated that:
“Neither can the absence of a data entry or current investigation or the lack of a passport ban be taken as evidence that an individual is not in danger. Despite the absence of entries in the central information system, the individual concerned might be listed on one of the other information systems. This must certainly be assumed in the case of individuals who have already been taken into custody by the police, gendarmerie or some other branch of the security forces in the past.” [8] (p41)
30.15 In a fax sent to the British Embassy in Ankara on 7 October 2005, the Assistant Director of the Trafficking and Organised Crime Directorate of the Turkish Ministry of Interiors confirmed that:
“In our country the GBT system is governed by the Trafficking Intelligence and Information Gathering Directorate attached to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Law enforcement units such as the police and the gendarme can use the GBT system. While the customs officers stationed at international ports and borders cannot use the GBT system police units stationed at all land, air and sea borders are able to use the said system. Foreign establishments cannot use this system in any way whatsoever. The offence of leaving the country through illegal means can only be detected when the offenders are captured abroad. It is impossible to know who left the country through illegal means and therefore no records are being kept in relation to such matters. Draft evaders are also being registered in the GBT system. Records relating to individuals who are being prosecuted or are subject to investigation are being kept in the GBT system. Records relating to individuals who have been taken into custody and subsequently released are not registered in the GBT system.” [4f]
31 Employment rights
31.01 As stated in the USSD 2005 report:
“The law provides some but not all workers with the right to associate and form unions subject to diverse restrictions; some workers exercised this right in practice. The government maintains some restrictions on the right of association. Unions are required to obtain official permission to hold meetings or rallies and to allow government representatives to attend their conventions and record the proceedings; however, these requirements were not always enforced. Prosecutors could ask labor courts to order a trade union or confederation to suspend its activities or to go into liquidation for serious infractions based on alleged violation of specific legal norms. Approximately 25 percent of the wage and salary workers in the labor force was unionized.” [5b] (Section 6a)
31.02 The USSD 2005 report further noted that:
“The ability of unions to conduct their activities, including collective bargaining, is subject both in law and in practice to diverse government restrictions and interference… The law provides for the right to strike; however, the law requires a union to take a series of steps, including negotiations and nonbinding mediation, before calling a strike… The law allows the government to suspend strikes for 60 days on national security or public health and safety grounds… The law prohibits strikes by civil servants, public workers engaged in the protection of life and property, the mining and petroleum industries, sanitation services, national defense, and education; however, many workers in these sectors conducted strikes in violation of these restrictions with general impunity. The majority of strikes during the year were illegal; while some illegal strikers were dismissed, in most cases employers did not retaliate.” [5b] (Section 6b)
31.03 The European Commission 2006 report recorded that:
“As regards employment policy, little progress can be reported. Low labour force participation and employment rates, in particular of women, high levels of youth unemployment, the large size of the informal economy and the strong rural/urban labour market divide remain the main challenges. The overall employment rate in 2005 decreased to 43.4%, whereas unemployment rate remained at 10.3%. The scale of unregistered employment continues to be of concern. It constitutes 50.1% of overall employment, and 88.2% of employment in the agriculture sector. The Turkish employment agency (IŞKUR) continued efforts to improve its institutional capacity. Progress was made in preparing the Joint Assessment Paper of Employment Policy Priorities (JAP) between the European Commission and the Turkish authorities.” [71a] (p53)
31.04 The European Commission 2006 report also stated that, “As regards social dialogue, no progress can be reported on the pending draft laws aimed at bringing the currently applicable Trade Union and Collective Bargaining, Strike and Lockout Laws in line with ILO and EU standards. Full trade union rights remain to be established in Turkey. Social dialogue is weak; the performance of the Economic and Social Council needs improvement.” [71a] (p53)
31.05 The EC 2006 report further noted that:
“No progress can be reported in the area of labour law. Shortcomings in the transposition of some directives remain. These include the limited scope of application of the Labour Law. On administrative capacity, some additional qualified personnel were recruited to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. Turkey needs to continue efforts to reduce child labour with the support of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).” [71a] (p52)
31.06 The EC 2006 report also noted that:
“In the field of health and safety at work, Turkey has reached a good degree of alignment with the acquis, but outstanding shortcomings reported last year remain. In particular, the regulation transposing the Framework Directive is still suspended, although other regulations in this area remain in force. Legislation does not cover all workers in the private sector nor the public sector. The National Occupational Health and Safety Council, an advisory body composed of public institutions, social partners and relevant stakeholders, has adopted a national policy in the field of health and safety at work. Activities relating to the enforcement and implementation of health and safety at work legislation have been undertaken throughout the reporting period. However, further efforts in this respect are needed, including through awareness-raising, training and strengthening the capacity of the inspection bodies.” [71a] (p52-53)
31.07 The BIA News Center article reported that:
“A press conference scheduled to be held by executives and members of the Izmir branch of Turkey's Transport Workers Union (Nakliyat-Is) was attacked by police using gas bombs and there were many injured in the incident including union leaders. Nakliyat-Is Union headquarters issued a written statement after the incident protesting the police intervention. The incident was sparked by an industrial dispute stemming from the layoff of 35 workers after 330 workers joined Nakliyat-Is following a purchase of their employing company Tansas A-Lojistik by Koc Holding.” [102o]
Major Trade Union Confederations
31.07 As recorded in Europa Regional Survey of the World: The Middle East and North Africa 2005, the major trade union confederations were TÜRK-IŞ (Confederation of Turkish Labour Unions) and DISK (Confederation of Progressive Labour Unions). [1d] (p1204)
31.08 The EC 2006 progress report recorded that:
“There is no progress to be reported on trade union's rights. The government submitted to social partners two legislative proposals aimed at amending the two currently applicable laws in this area. However, no further progress was made and no formal legislative initiative has been taken by the government. As a result, the current significant shortcomings on the right to organise and the right to collective bargaining, including the right to strike remain in place. The thresholds at company and sector levels required for signing a collective agreement, and the cumbersome procedures to enrol in trade unions are still in force. Journalists continue to encounter specific problems in organising and collective bargaining.” [71a] (p19-20)
31.09 The EC 2006 report added that, “Turkey still falls short of ILO standards, particularly in relation to conventions No 87 (freedom of associations and protection of the right to organise) and No 98 (right to organise and collective bargaining). Turkey ratified the revised European Social Charter in September 2006 but maintains reservations on Article 5 (right to organise) and Article 6 (right to bargain collectively).” [71a] (p20)
31.10 The EC 2006 report further detailed that, “In April 2006, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security sued the Gıda-İş Trade Union on the grounds that some of the elected representatives of the union do not have 10 years seniority, as required by the Law on Trade Unions. The labour court decided to close down the union but the Court of Cassation overturned this ruling on procedural grounds.” [71a] (p20)