Chief Ombudsman Mr. Mehmet Akarca participated as a speaker in the session titled “Ensuring the Enforcement of Constitutional Rights through Ombudsmen and National Human Rights Institutions” at the International Ombudsman Symposium on “Strengthening the Rule of Law: The Role of Ombudsmen and National Human Rights Institutions” held in Baku, Azerbaijan on 18 June 2025.

In his speech, he emphasized the Ombudsman Institution’s dual role: promoting citizens’ rights and guiding public institutions in line with principles such as the rule of law, democracy, and good administration and recalled the clear mission of Ombudspersons: Never to allow the rights, freedoms promised by constitutions to remain mere words on paper, but to ensure they become a living reality for every individual and that this is only possible through the presence of strong, independent and effective institutions. He also brought up the suffering endured by people due to the years-long unlawful occupation and human rights violations in Karabakh, and emphasized that today civilians including women and children are losing their lives on account of the ongoing attacks against Iran and the genocide in Gaza, underscoring the urgent need for these atrocities to come to an end. Referring to grave human rights violations in Gaza, Chief Ombudsman stated that the Ombudsman Institution of Türkiye had embraced the mission of documenting this historical tragedy and bringing it to the international agenda, noting that, in this context, the Institution had published a special academic edition titled “Ombudsman Academic Gaza Special Issue” with contributions from over 130 respected scholars, and had also released a comprehensive report prepared by the experts of the Institution, which clearly exposes the serious human rights violations in Gaza.

Mr. Akarca stressed that internal conflicts, wars, forced migrations, issues arising from climate change and digitalization are matters that constantly remain on the agenda of the Ombudsman Institutions since they constantly threaten human rights and therefore keep increasing and complicating the duties and responsibilities of Ombudspersons every day.

As part of the conference, Chief Ombudsman Mr. Mehmet Akarca and the ombudspersons from various countries present in Azerbaijan paid a visit to Ms. Sahiba Gafarova, the Speaker of the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan.

Also, as part of his official program in Azerbaijan, Chief Ombudsman paid a visit to the Prosecutor General Mr. Kamran Aliyev and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Inam Karimov and Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye to Azerbaijan Prof. Dr. Birol Akgün.

Mr. Akarca was presented with the special state award, the “100th Anniversary Jubilee Medal of the Azerbaijani Prosecution Service” by Mr. Kamran Aliyev for his contributions to strengthening legal cooperation between the two countries, fostering solidarity between institutions and advancing the field of human rights.