Rıza Mahmut Türmen (born 17 June 1941) is a Turkish politician and judge. He is the former judge of the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

and currently an MP for

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

in the

Turkish Parliament The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( ), usually referred to simply as the GNAT or TBMM, also referred to as , in Turkish, is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...

, with the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

. He graduated from

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

law faculty in 1964. He took a master's degree in at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

, Montreal, before doing his doctorate at

Faculty of Political Science, Ankara University The Faculty of Political Science of the University of Ankara (, more simply known as "''SBF''") is the oldest institution of administrative sciences in Turkey. It is the successor of the "Mekteb-i Mülkiye" ('), also known simply as "Mülkiye," wh ...

. Türmen has held various positions at the

Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Foreign Affairs () is the governmental body responsible for conducting foreign relations of the Republic of Turkey. The Ministry is responsible for Turkey's diplomatic missions abroad as well as providing support for Turkish c ...

, which he joined in 1966. In 1978, he was appointed Turkey's representative to the

International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...

. He was ambassador to

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

in 1985. From 1989 to 1994 he worked in Ankara as the Director General responsible for the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the p ...

and human rights. From 1995 to 1996 he was ambassador to Switzerland at

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

. Between 1996 and 1997, Türmen was the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the Council of Europe. From 1998 to 2008, he was the Turkish judge for the European Court of Human Rights. Since his retirement he has written a column for the Turkish newspaper ''

Milliyet ''Milliyet'' ( Turkish for "''nationality''") is a daily newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey. History and profile ''Milliyet'' came to publishing life at the Nuri Akça press in Babıali, Istanbul as a daily private newspaper on 3 May 1950 ...

''. Rıza Türmen is also known as a campaigner for the

independence of the judiciary Judicial independence is the concept that the judiciary should be independent from the other branches of government. That is, courts should not be subject to improper influence from the other branches of government or from private or partisan inte ...

in Turkey. He is married to Dr Tomris Türmen. The couple has one daughter.

Awards

Turkish Bar Association The Turkish Bars Association (correctly, the Union of Turkish Bar Associations) or ''Türkiye Barolar Birliği'' (TBB) has been established in 1969 and is an organisation for Turkish lawyers, uniting over 70,000 lawyers in 79 Turkish bar associat ...

''Lawyer of the Year'', 2009 *

Middle East Technical University Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish language, Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a prestigious public university, public Institute of technology, technical university located in Ankara, ...

''Distinguished Service Award'', 2009 *

Turkish Journalists Association The Turkish Journalists' Association (, TGC) is an association for journalists in Turkey. It was founded on 10 June 1946, shortly after the abolition of the Turkish Press Union (Türk Basın Birliği), membership of which had been required by law f ...

''Freedom of the Press Award'', 2009

Articles and publications

"Contemporary issues in human rights", Perceptions, Journal of International Affairs, 1997

"On multiculturalism", Perceptions, Journal of International Affairs, 1998-1999

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turmen, Riza 1941 births Living people Judges of the European Court of Human Rights Turkish judges 20th-century Turkish diplomats 21st-century Turkish journalists Academics from Istanbul Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni McGill University alumni Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences alumni Deputies of İzmir Contemporary Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Milliyet people Permanent representatives of Turkey to the International Civil Aviation Organization Permanent representatives of Turkey to the Council of Europe Ambassadors of Turkey to Singapore Ambassadors of Turkey to Switzerland Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Turkish judges of international courts and tribunals