ANKARA - Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis issued on Monday a message on December 10 Human Rights Day.
In his message, Yakis said that respect to human rights was taking its place among basic principles of Turkish Constitution as in all modern constitutions.
Yakis noted that Turkey had taken significant steps in protecting and developing human rights in recent years.
''One of the dimensions of these steps aiming at laying the legal and administrative groundwork required to fully settle respect to fundamental rights and liberties is to be a side to international human rights conventions and the other is to make necessary changes in our regulations and make necessary arrangements for implementation. Within this framework, Turkey became a side to United Nations (U.N.) International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are expected to be ratified soon. After ratification of these two covenants, Turkey will become a side to all six main U.N. conventions on human rights. On the other hand, human rights standards in our country have been adjusted with European norms in line with expectations of our citizens and our international obligations by the adopted adjustment laws,'' Yakis said.
Yakis stated that human rights was an ideal of humanity and added, ''in order to achieve this ideal, international human rights forums have to work in mutual understanding, cooperation and solidarity. Turkey is attributing utmost importance to cooperation with universal and regional human rights mechanisms, particularly the U.N., and hopes every country to be in similar constructive cooperation with the mentioned mechanisms.''