Country of origin information report Turkey March 2007

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Freedom of association and assembly
14.07 As recorded in the International Helsinki Federation (IHF) report of June 2006:
“The 2004 Law on Associations largely removed restrictions on registration and functioning of NGOs. However, restrictions continued to be provided for ‘prohibited objectives’ (article 30), and article 56 of the law stipulated that no associations will be formed with objectives in contravention of law and morality. Human rights organizations organizations consider these vague terms as potentially threatening. A regulation on the implementation of the law also prohibited NGOs whose names or objectives were considered as unconstitutional, such as promoting a minority culture. According to HRA, the authorities launched prosecutions with the aim of closure against three organizations and security forces intervened in the activities of several NGOs in 2005.” [10a] (p439)
14.08 The International Helsinki Federation (IHF) June 2006 report further stated:
“In a case against Turkey’s largest teacher’s union, Egitim-Sen, initiated upon a complaint by the chief of general staff for closure of the union for defending the right to education in children’s mother tongues, the Ankara Labor Court decided in February against the indictment on the basis of the case-law of the ECtHR regarding freedom of expression and of association. The court argued that the Turkish law should be interpreted in line with international human rights obligations. However, the Supreme Court of Appeals decided to close the union in May, arguing that freedom of association could be restricted because of considerations of territorial integrity and national security. The court stated that Turkish citizens could not be educated in any language other than Turkish and that freedom of association could be restricted for protecting national security and unity.” [10a] (p5)
14.09 The EC 2006 report noted that:
“Concerning freedom of association, the legal framework is generally in line with international standards. The impact on the ground of the legislative reforms concerning associations has been positive, in particular the adoption of a Law on Associations in November 2004. However, the requirement to notify the authorities in case of receipt of finances from abroad results in difficulties and cumbersome procedures for NGOs. Furthermore, unlike associations, foundations still need permission before applying for projects outside Turkey and funded by international organisations. Some difficulties related to the registration of associations remain. The requests of the Diyarbakir Protestant church and of the Jehovah's Witnesses to establish associations were challenged in court. In both cases the court ruled in favour of the associations. In April 2006, a Kurdish association was ordered to close by a Court in Diyarbakır on the grounds that its statute included the objectives of setting up a Kurdish archive, museum and library and that its activities would be carried out also in the Kurdish language.” [71a] (p16)
14.10 The USSD 2005 reported that, “The law requires associations to notify authorities before engaging in activities such as founding an association, interacting with international organizations, and receiving financial support from abroad. Associations are required to provide detailed documents on such activities, and representatives of associations said this placed an undue burden on their operations.”[5b] (Section 2b)