Office of the commissioner for fundamental rights of hungary

At the invitation of Commissioner for Fundamental Rights of Hungary Dr. Ákos Kozma, this year’s international conference of the Turkic States Ombudsman Association was held in Hungary. In the framework of the first TÜRKOMB meeting held in Hungary, the ombudspersons of the Republic of Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan got first-hand information on the direct legal and humanitarian support provided to the persons fleeing the war in Ukraine by the Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights of Hungary in Beregsurány. During the several-day visit, the members of the Turkic delegation were provided information on the operation of the regional offices of AJBH (the Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights of Hungary) in Debrecen and they held coordination talks, among others, with President of the Constitutional Court Dr. Tamás Sulyok, State Secretary for Security Policy and Energy Security of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Dr. Péter Sztáray, as well as with the heads of police and prison services.

As part of the first TÜRKOMB meeting in Hungary, Chief Ombudsman of Türkiye Mr. Şeref Malkoç, Ombudsman for Regional Administration of Türkiye Mr. Sadettin Kalkan, Azerbaijani Ombudsperson Ms. Sabina Aliyeva, Ombudsperson of Uzbekistan Ms. Feruza Eshmatova, as well as Head of Cabinet of the Kazakh ombudsman institution Ms. Alua Nadirkulova arrived in Hungary.

The delegation of the association comprising the ombudspersons of Turkic states, accompanied by the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights of Hungary Dr. Ákos Kozma, held professional discussions with Lieutenant General, Director General of the Hungarian Prison Service Headquarters Dr. Tamás Tóth, as well as Police Brigadier General, Chief of the Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Police Headquarters Mr. József Farkas.

The international delegation paid a visit to the Debrecen Regional Office of the Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights of Hungary and the Hungarian-Ukrainian border section, to the Beregsurány border-crossing point, help point and temporary ombudsman office.

Dr. Ákos Kozma told the Turkic ombudspersons about the circumstances of receiving the persons fleeing the war in Ukraine and the measures taken in order to help them, as well as the work and experience of the ombudsman information desks established for providing direct legal and humanitarian support to them, along with the operation of the Debrecen Regional Office of AJBH.

The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights underlined that “this is the first time that the delegation of the Turkic States Ombudsman Association has paid an official visit to Hungary. The Hungarian ombudsman institution is ready to share the experience and good practices gained in the recent years in the different areas of fundamental rights protection with our Turkic colleagues. This holds true for both the issues of the general ombudsman rights protection activities and our fundamental rights protection areas of a special focus, among which the fundamental rights aspects of police complaints, issues related to equal treatment, disability-related matters or child protection bear key significance.

The members of the TÜRKOMB delegation and Commissioner for Fundamental Rights of Hungary Dr. Ákos Kozma planted memorial trees on the territory of Szombathelyi Erdészeti Zrt on the occasion of the first meeting of the organisation in Hungary, and they paid a professional visit to the Veszprém County Remand Prison.

The several-day programme was concluded by the International Conference of the Turkic States Ombudsman Association in Budapest.