ANKARA, Jan 22 (A.A) - State Minister in Charge of Human Rights Nejat Arseven said that the current government was working hard to make progress in Turkey's human rights field, after a four-hour meeting with the representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on Tuesday afternoon.
Arseven told reporters that, at the meeting, they assessed the recent efforts to make improvements in Turkey's human rights and supremacy of law. He said that the NGO representatives welcomed the latest activities but contended that more changes were needed in this field.
''Turkey's progress in human rights depend on the government's efforts and also on the support of the NGOs,'' Arseven said. He indicated that the legal changes made in human rights and freedoms were important, however what is more important is how these changes were reflected in people's lives.
Commenting on the recent discussions about education in the Kurdish language, Arseven said, ''As you know, basic education can only be in Turkish under the Constitution. It's also a constitutional right to make your demand heard by presenting a petition. However, it's not possible to accept this demand.''
Pointing out that the NGO representatives who attended the meeting were in consensus that people worldwide should be more sensitive to violations of human rights, Arseven said they also discussed women's rights during the meeting.
Arseven said that the National Education Ministry gave lessons about human rights and that State Ministry Responsible for Human Rights and Education Ministry should be in close contact on this issue.
''I think we had a very beneficial meeting. The call which we made to the NGOs with good will was welcomed by them. Human Rights Association Chairman Husnu Ondul said he wished success to us,'' Arseven said.
Arseven said those meetings would continue.
Commenting that everybody knew the efforts of his ministry to reduce human rights violations, Arseven said with the establishment of the Human Rights Chairmanship, they were about to set up an organizational structure.
Arseven said any information that is given to his ministry regarding violation of human righs was examined in details.
Recalling that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Chairmanship had reported that Turkey had dropped to number 5 last year in applications made pertaining to human rights violations, Arseven said it was understood that the ECHR Chairmanship was pleased over the work carried out in Turkey on this issue.
Arseven said there might be human rights violations in every country but that there should be efforts to overcome those violations, and added, ''We will initiate a large-scale project aiming to convey the facts with respect to human rights.''