Geographical bounders of fundamental rights and freedoms: Turkey as a sample

Assurance mechanisms established in order to eliminate obstacles before safeguarding and exercising fundamental rights and freedoms may vary from one region to another. As a result of this understanding, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was declared in 1948. Thus, "human rights" gained a universal identity for the first time and a general consensus was reached in terms of their validity. As a reflection of her sensitivity in terms of human rights, Turkey has been involved in both the United Nations and in a large number of organizations that emerged later at the European level with a focus on human rights and democracy. Within this context, Turkey became one of the founding members of the European Council in 1949 and approved and ratified the European Convention on Human Rights. Turkey has undertaken obligations on human rights both pursuant to the European Convention on Human Rights and under other agreements to which she has been a party within the framework of United Nations and Organisation for Cooperation and Security in Europe. Turkey has taken the issue of safeguarding and improving human rights seriously and therefore, established new institutional structures. For this purpose, organizations such as Ombudsman Institution and Human Rights Institution have been established. With these new mechanisms and newly established units, it is done considerable progress in terms of the prompt identification and ending of human rights violations. The right of individual application enacted with the adoption of the last amending Certain Provisions of the Constitution via the referendum was brought to our legal system as a new mechanism to safeguard fundamental rights and freedoms in addition to the currently available legal remedies. In the event that one of the fundamental rights and freedoms which are within the scope of the European Convention on Human Rights and guaranteed in the Constitution pursuant to the aforesaid amendment is violated, it has been made possible to lodge an individual application before the Constitutional Court. In a state of law, in order to ensure that rights and freedoms are guaranteed at constitutional and judicial levels, that legal texts are of very high universal standards in terms of their content and that they are meaningful, firstly, the laws should be applicable. Because of this need, in order to protect human rights both are used in our country, institutional structures/units and individual application mechanism.