Turkey signed the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings on 19 March 2009 in Strasbourg.

The Convention which was opened for signature in Warsaw on 16 May 2005 on the occasion of the 3rd Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe, entered into force on 1 February 2008.

Turkey actively took part in the work of the ad-hoc committee established for the preparations of the Convention.

The Convention which is also open for signature for Council of Europe non-member states and the European Community goes beyond the “Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons”. Turkey is a State Party to the said Protocol.

The Convention aims to emphasize that human trafficking is a violation of human rights, to cover all types of human trafficking crime including related labour exploitation, committed at national/international level organized or individually and aims at the completion of the legal base for the protection of victims/witnesses.

In accordance with the Convention an independent monitoring mechanism –Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings– GRETA has been established. GRETA will follow up the implementation of the Convention by the State Parties.