ABSTRACT
The Republic of Turkey signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) that promotes full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities on March 30, 2007. As to independent mechanisms foreseen by Article 33/2 of CRPD, one can mention the Ombudsman Institution and the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey. Some of these provisions that violate Article 12 of CRPD and undermine the legal capacity of persons with disabilities are as follows: According to Turkish legislation, persons with disabilities may not hold positions such as secretary-general of chambers or commodity exchanges. Another provision in the Turkish Criminal Code worth mentioning is Article 157 with respect to criminal law protection of persons with disabilities. According to this survey, the ratio of persons with disabilities to overall population was 12.29%, and the disabled population in Turkey is around 8.5 million.
