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I wish that the 3 International Symposium of Ombudsman Institutions
rd
will be rewarding and serve the expected results. On this occasion, I
would like to thank all who made this event possible and primarily Mr.
Nihat Ömeroğlu, Turkish Ombudsman.
It is easy to hurt, demolish or do bad-mouthing about something but
doing something good is challenging; it requires hard work, investment
of time, efforts and meticulousness; it is not easy to organize such an
international event either. Even compliment is merit-based. The ones
who do something, work and serve the public do deserve compliments.
Once again, I would like to thank all who supported this event.
Mr. President,

Esteemed Guests,
As his Excellency lucidly mentioned, the term of Ombudsman is
derived from Swedish, meaning `mediator`.
In other words, it means “a person who hears the public”.
This term corresponded to the person or the organization delegated
by the citizens to object to the arbitrary actions and illegal behavior of
the ones elected to the Parliament.
The term of Ombudsman means public sector auditor according to 3 rd INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON OMBUDSMAN INSTITUTIONS
Turkish Constitution and laws.
As Mr. Ambassador mentioned, it is the person who is acting in favor
of the citizens not the government.
Thought it is new in our legislation, it is not alien to our culture. Hearing
citizens is the duty of both leaders and politics.
There are ombudsman institutions in more than 140 countries and
the ombudsman system became a constitutional organization in 1809
in Swedish Constitution. It took long time to put such an institution
into life in Turkey. After the Law on Turkish Ombudsman Institution
was adopted in 2006 by the TGNA, it was carried to the Constitutional
Court for its annulation and in 2009, the law was rendered null and
void since it was non-compliant with the constitution.
Its establishment became possible upon the voting of the constitutional
amendments on 12 September 2010. Therefore, after this date, the

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