Twelfth Meeting of the TURKPA Commission on Legal Affairs and International Relations

The Twelfth Meeting of the TURKPA Commission on Legal Affairs and International Relations was held in online format on 28 April 2025, hosted by the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the topic “Ombudsman Institutions in TURKPA Member States”.

The meeting was attended by the members of the Commission, legal experts of the parliaments and representatives of the Secretariat. The meeting was chaired by Osman Mesten, Chairman of the Commission on Legal Affairs and International Relations, and member of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye.

Chairman of the Commission Osman Mesten, Vice-Chairman of the Commission Abzal Kuspan and members of the Commission Javanshir Feyziyev, Ruslanbek Jakyshov and Filiz Kılıç made speeches at the opening of the meeting.

The meeting discussed the agenda items and approved the Commission Report and Recommendation to be submitted to the Fourteenth Plenary Session of TURKPA to be held in Kazakhstan in June.

The speeches made in the framework of the Commission meeting highlighted the importance of Ombudsman institutions and underlined that they are essential structures for the protection and maintenance of human rights. In addition, Member States' parliamentarians also spoke about the history and working system of Ombudsmen in their respective countries.

In addition to the Report and Recommendation, the draft Model Law “On Facilitation of Residence Permits in TURKPA Member Countries” prepared by the Commission was also approved by the parties to be adopted at the next Plenary Session. The approved draft Model Law aims to make it easier for the citizens of TURKPA Member States to reside in the member countries without bureaucratic obstacles. In addition, the draft Model Law has a separate section for special categories of people such as artists, students and business people, with special attention paid to facilitating the residence permits of these groups of people.