The Raoul Wallenberg Institute cooperation in Turkey started in 1997 with seminars for police officials, undertaken in cooperation with the General Directorate of Security.
In 2000, the Institute initiated cooperation with Istanbul Bilgi University Human Rights Centre. Cooperation with Bilgi University continued until 2011, including an intensive training programme for Turkish judges and prosecutors with the support of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Justice.
From 2005 to 2011, cooperation activities focused on supporting the process of strengthening human rights protection and promotion, rule of law and democracy in Turkey, and the capacity of academic institutions to contribute to this process.
The Raoul Wallenberg Institute commenced a new four-year cooperation programme in Turkey in October 2011, the overall objective of which is to support the development of human rights teaching and research capacity (including on human rights of women) at legal education institutions in Turkey and the sharing of this expertise with students and justice sector stakeholders.
This programme is divided into the following main areas:
- Supporting the law faculties of Ankara University in Ankara (where work is also carried out with the Human Rights Centre at the Faculty of Political Sciences), Dokuz Eylül University in Izmir; Istanbul University in Istanbul, Anadolu University in Eskişehir and Selçuk University in Konya
- Supporting cross-institutional and cross-disciplinary networking and capacity development among junior academics with an interest in human rights across Turkey
- Supporting national dialogue on legal education reform.
The programme also includes cooperation with the Turkish Justice Academy and with the Police Academy in Ankara, as well as the Ministry of Justice. A programme is being developed to continue and deepen these partnerships for the period of 2015-2020.
The Raoul Wallenberg Institute programme in Turkey is financially supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
The Office in Istanbul
Sebnem Kenis
Sebnem Kenis joined RWI in 2016 as Programme Officer responsible for gender mainstreaming and results-based management in RWI’s Turkey Human Rights Capacity Development Programme. In 2018, she was appointed as the Gender and Human Rights Advisor and began working with RWI’s regional and country programmes and partners around the world. In her current capacity as the Senior Policy Advisor, she leads RWI’s gender equality work and provides gender and human rights related expertise, advice and guidance to RWI’s regional and country programs. Before joining RWI, she had worked in the sectors of market research, public relations, and non-governmental organizations in Turkey. Her professional expertise also includes monitoring and evaluation, results-based management, capacity development of NGOs, and lobbying and advocacy (for youth rights and policy, gender equality, sexual and reproductive rights). She was appointed as the Gender Equality Rapporteur of the Council of Europe’s Joint Council on Youth in 2016 and maintained this position until the end of 2016. Sebnem holds a Master of Arts in International Relations from Koc University, Istanbul.
Seda Alp
Seda has MA degree in Transnational Communication and Global Media from Goldsmiths College, University of London. She is doing her PhD in sociology, with research subject including nationalism, racism and citizenship. Seda has worked at various organizations including UNHCR, National Democratic Institute in Turkey and Civil Society Development Centre as public relation and communication officers.