Over time, the Committee developed relationships with several local activists and organizations and became impressed by the courage and dynamism of the local human rights movement in Turkey. The Committee carried out its first visit to the country in January 1996 to observe the trial of the leaders of one of the leading local human rights groups, the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey in Ankara, on charges arising from the publication of a human rights report. The Committee quickly learned that there was a vibrant national debate about human rights taking place in Turkey, and that local advocates were articulating the demands of many in Turkey for the institutionalization of human rights safeguards in law and practice. It was also clear that human rights advocates and lawyers in Turkey face obstacles in carrying out their activities, some purposefully erected by the authorities. As in every country, in Turkey, government statements about human rights reform cannot always be accepted at face value.
Governments sometimes make exaggerated claims for their human rights achievements.
In the Turkish context, however, the human rights issue has become entwined with complex matters of international relations. Turkish aspirations to become a member of the European Union have been blocked, for example, ostensibly because of Turkey's poor human rights record. In the highly charged political atmosphere that attends the human rights debate in Turkey, both locally and internationally, it is especially important to be sure that promises are acted upon. The Lawyers Committee believes that human rights reform in Turkey will best be achieved by the efforts of the Turkish people themselves. For that reason, it has established as a priority for its work in Turkey the need to lift restrictions on the free functioning of independent human rights advocates and lawyers.