Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion and European Network on Statelessness Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 35th Session of the Universal Periodic Review Turkey Introduction 1. the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI) and the European Network on Statelessness (ENS) make this joint submission to the Human Rights Council at the 35th Session of the Universal Periodic Review on the challenges pertaining to citizenship, statelessness and the enjoyment of fundamental human rights in Turkey. 2. This submission focuses on arbitrary deprivation of citizenship by Turkey, the denial of consular assistance to citizens living abroad and statelessness among Syrian refugees in the country. It draws heavily on a Policy Brief published by ISI in 2017, on the arbitrary deprivation of nationality and denial of consular services to Turkish citizens.1 3. ISI2 is an independent non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting an integrated, human rights-based response to the injustice of statelessness and exclusion. Established in August 2014, it is the first and only global centre committed to promoting the human rights of stateless persons and ending statelessness. The Institute has made over 40 country specific UPR submissions on the human rights of stateless persons, and also compiled summaries of the key human rights challenges related to statelessness in all countries under review under the 23rd to the 34th UPR Sessions. 4. ENS 3 is a civil society alliance of NGOs, lawyers, academics, and other independent experts committed to addressing statelessness in Europe. Based in London, it currently has over 140 members in 40 European countries. ENS organises its work around three pillars – law and policy development, awareness-raising and capacity-building. ENS provides expert advice and support to a range of stakeholders, including governments. Previous UPR of Turkey under the First and Second Cycles 5. Turkey was previously reviewed during the 8th and 21st sessions of the UPR, in 2010 and 2015 respectively. During both cycles, Turkey did not receive any recommendations relating to the right to a nationality and statelessness directly. However, in 2015 it did receive a recommendation by Equatorial Guinea to “pursue the process already undertaken of children’s civil registration”, which it accepted.4 1 See https://www.institutesi.org/policy-brief-Turkey-arbitrary-deprivation-of-nationality_2017.pdf For more information about the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, see: www.institutesi.org. 3 For more information about the European Network on Statelessness, see: www.statelessness.eu. 4 Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review: Turkey (2015), A/HRC/29/15, para. 148.110. 2 1