Turkey Accused of Meddling in European Rights Court Hiring

On Novem­ber 23, 2024, the Nordic Mon­i­tor report­ed that the Turk­ish oppo­si­tion has accused the gov­ern­ment of inter­fer­ing with recruit­ment at the Euro­pean Court of Human Rights, par­tic­u­lar­ly in block­ing Kur­dish can­di­dates. The arti­cle begins:

A mem­ber of the main oppo­si­tion par­ty in the Turk­ish par­lia­ment has sub­mit­ted a writ­ten inquiry addressed to For­eign Min­is­ter Hakan Fidan alleg­ing gov­ern­ment inter­fer­ence in recruit­ment process­es at the Euro­pean Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Accord­ing to the MP, the Turk­ish gov­ern­ment has influ­enced hir­ing deci­sions through Turk­ish staff work­ing at the ECtHR, result­ing in the exclu­sion of a can­di­date deemed unsuit­able due to eth­nic background…

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Key Points:

1. Oppo­si­tion MP claims a qual­i­fied Kur­dish can­di­date was bypassed for the ECtHR posi­tion despite rank­ing high in exam­i­na­tions and interviews.
2. Turk­ish diplo­mat­ic mis­sions alleged­ly flag can­di­dates with Kur­dish con­nec­tions, influ­enc­ing their employ­ment prospects at inter­na­tion­al institutions.
3. Key Turk­ish offi­cials at ECtHR, includ­ing divi­sion head Hasan Bakır­cı, face accu­sa­tions of bias in cas­es against the Turk­ish government.
4. Turk­ish judge Saadet Yük­sel’s appoint­ment raised con­cerns about gov­ern­ment influ­ence, with some call­ing her a “Tro­jan horse.”