In celebration of World Human Rights Day, the Center for Human Rights Studies and Research in cooperation with Faculty of Law, hosted its annual academic event series, focusing this year on children’s rights. The Children’s Rights Conference, held on Wednesday, December 11, aimed to raise awareness about children’s rights, a topic that had recently garnered attention due to negative news reports in Türkiye. The conference provided a platform to discuss how children, as individuals, can access their rights, and what steps can be taken to improve their situation. At the conference, the legal and social aspects of children’s rights were discussed by experts working in both theory and practice.
The conference began with opening speeches by Asst. Prof. Ayşe Dicle Ergin, Director of the Center for Human Rights Studies and Research; Prof. Çağlar Manavgat, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Law; and Rector Prof. Kürşat Aydoğan. The conference was structured in two sessions.
In the first session, moderated by Dr. Zülfiye Yılmaz Yamaç, the following presentations were made:
Prof. Kasım Karataş from the Hacettepe University Children’s Rights Center, who spoke on “Protecting Children from Neglect and Abuse”
Dr. Günhan Gönül Koşar from the Faculty of Law at Hacettepe University, who presented on “The Violation of the Personality Rights of Publicly Known Children Through the Media”
Burcu Meltem Arık Akyüz from the Education Reform Initiative, who discussed “Children’s Right to Education”
The second session, moderated by Asst. Prof. Elvin Evrim Dalkılıç, featured practitioners as experts. In this session, the following presentations were made:
Attorney Hasan Erdoğan, Head of the Ankara Bar Association’s Children’s Rights Center, who spoke on “Children in Conflict with the Law and the Juvenile Justice System”
Attorney Özcan Güven, Deputy Chair of the Ankara Bar Association’s Children’s Rights Center and retired judge, who presented on “The Operation of Juvenile Courts – Practice”
The event welcomed participation from students, academics, experts and anyone interested in the subject.
The conference was streamed live on the Bilkent University Faculty of Law’s YouTube channel and can be watched at www.youtube.com/@bilkentuniversitesihukukfa1952.
