On 13 January 2023, Ombudswoman Tena Šimonović Einwalter hosted the head of the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Türkiye (HREIT), Muharrem Kılıç, and his associates. Ombudswoman Šimonović Einwalter, along with Deputy Ombudspersons Tatjana Vlašić and Saša Rajić, presented the mandate, competences, and working methods of our institution to the Turkish delegation. A special focus of the meeting was the regional presence of our institution, primarily through the operation of regional offices in Split, Rijeka, and Osijek, field visits, the network of anti-discrimination contact points, and cooperation with stakeholders on the ground.
During the continuation of the visit, HREIT representatives also met with the advisors to the Ombudswoman, responsible for various areas of work such as combating discrimination, human rights protection, tackling maladministration, the National Preventive Mechanism, and promotion and communication, in order to gain deeper insight into each specific mandate.
In addition to learning about the work of our institution, the Turkish colleagues had the opportunity to hear about and exchange experiences with representatives of the specialised ombudsperson institutions in the Republic of Croatia. They were informed about their competences and activities by Kristijan Kevešević, Deputy Ombudsperson for Gender Equality; Darijo Jurišić, Deputy Ombudsperson for Persons with Disabilities; and Maja Gabelica Šupljika, Deputy Ombudsperson for Children.