Ceren is a master student in international law and human rights at Tartu University. During February, she worked at the Estonian Human Rights Centre as an intern, helping our lawyers in the refugee program and also doing administrative tasks. Read below, how she found herself studying human rights in Estonia and what she thinks about the current situation in Turkey.
How did you end up studying human rights in Estonia?
I studied Law in Turkey. One of my favourite subjects was international law because I always find world affairs and legal dialogue between countries very interesting. I also believe that as humans we should all know about our rights derived from being a human.
After I briefly worked in the private sector, I realized lawyers from all fields should actually be aware of human rights to consider and defend these moral principles in every case they take. Luckily, I came across with a great opportunity that suited me best. I am currently pursuing my Masters in International Law and Human Rights programme of The University of Tartu.
Even though Estonia owes its reputation mostly to its cyber development and IT sector’s success, it is a good example of a contry that respects human rights. This atmosphere of freedom and quality education make Estonia a perfect destination to study in this field.
Do you have any specific human rights issues that interest you the most? Why?
Gender equality, freedom of expression and refugee rights interest me the most because these are problematic issues in Turkey. Freedom of assembly and peaceful protest are prohibited in practice. Police violate people’s right to react to government’s politics and even express their problems about public matters. Basic criticism is often considered as an insult to the government, therefore, people are imprisoned or have to pay fines. Media limitations worry me as well.
What is the situation in Turkey right now regarding the sociopolitical climate? What kind of everyday practices, if any, have emerged for coping with the situation?
The socio-political climate was never calm and quiet in the history of Turkey. There were always ups and downs of politic decisions but I can say it has never been that tense and unstable either in the last 20 years. Unfortunately, it is not getting any better. In past, we were more aware of our goals and country politics. We have had hopes of achieving western society standards both in living and freedoms. We had a target to be part of the European Union. However, current politics put people in ambiguity. Transparency between government and society is lacking. People have the right to be worried about their country’s future as it is also their future but the government does not feel any responsibility of explaining their agenda to the people. In addition, their actions are extremely spontaneous, plans are not built on reasonable grounds. People experience chaotic thoughts with the change of politics every day. Due to its geographic position, Turkey is surrounded by conflicting countries, wars and terror groups. We recently involved with Syrian war which I found trapped our position because terror organizations are just a bait to drag us into such a dead-end conflict. These developments have not changed people’s daily practices yet. However, democracy is degrading because there is a dominance of one party (that our president supports despite tha fact that he/she should be impartial) and due to the currently ongoing “state of emergency” status, president and ministers can make legislation in order to compete with threatening organizations. But this possibility can also be abused by limiting freedom of speech and media broadcasts that include any level of criticism. Turkey should not be a country of martial law and dictatorship.
When you compare Turkey and Estonia in terms of human rights, what are the main issues that concern you? Can you even compare the two countries?
Turkey ratified various human rights treaties as Estonia did and Turkish Constitution recognizes human rights. Nevertheless, practice differs from the law in many cases. Human rights breaches are not very rare. Especially, women’s rights concern me a lot. When society is getting more and more religiously extreme, social and cultural pressure on women is increasing with this conservative attitude. As a result, it damages gender equality. Domestic violence, murder and rape against women is critically high. We also have similar problems on income injustice between men and women and also in social income distribution. During my active work period in Turkey, I experienced problems and am deeply concerned about people’s right to fair trial. Legal proceedings are taking a long time which either causes people to give up seeking justice or long detention periods.
Do you plan to go back to Turkey after finishing your master studies? What are your plans for the future?
I am planning to stay in Estonia to get work experience in my field and look for other opportunities to improve myself abroad. I do not plan to return to Turkey in the near future. I would like to use my knowledge to help people. I aim at a career with which I can contribute to bring justice to the people who have been discriminated againts and who have suffered from human rights violations.
Since you are here...
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