NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS AS A HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION MECHANISM: THE CASES OF THE OMBUDSMAN AND HUMAN RIGHTS AND EQUALITY INSTITUTION OF TURKEY in general and on ombudsman offices specifically, this study will mainly concentrate on making an assessment in line with the Paris Principles and the 2019 European Commission Principles on the Protection and Promotion of Ombudsman Institution (Venice Principles).5 Although these principles and standards are not binding, these standards have become more important with the acceptance of accreditation in relation to the Paris principles. Assessments in line with the principles are not included in the analysis of decisions. These assessments are at the end of the sections regarding structural characteristics and functioning of the Institution. It is possible to apply to the KDK as well as to the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Turkey (TIHEK) regarding discrimination claims. Although the number of applications made to the Institution has increased over the years, the nature of the applications is also an important indicator. Therefore, in addition to structural indicators, statistics related to decision-making process and to the applications will also be provided in this study. When selecting applications made to the Institution related to discrimination, the response of the Institution to the request for information, the selected decisions published previously, and the decisions included in the decision data bank of the Institution in 2020 (https://kararlar.ombudsman.gov.tr/Arama/Index) were all taken into consideration. Furthermore a decision, which was made on an application filed by AMER but was not published, is also discussed here. A.STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INSTITUTION The institution consists of a chief ombudsman and five ombudsmen Candidates for nomination that have qualifications stipulated by the law apply for the chief ombudsman and ombudsman positions within the application period announced by the TGNA Speaker’s Office. In fifteen days after expiration of the application period, the Joint Commission composed of members of the Commission on Petitions and Human Rights Investigation Commission of the Turkish Grand National Assembly selects three candidates for the Chief Ombudsman position from among candidates for nomination, and notify the Speaker’s Office to be submitted to the General Assembly. The Chief Ombudsman is elected with the two thirds of the total number of members in the first voting held in General Assembly, or in the second, if the majority could not be achieved in the first one. In the event the majority cannot be achieved in the second voting, a third voting is held, and the candidate receiving the absolute majority of the total number of members is considered to be elected. The commission selects the ombudsmen in the following fifteen days. In order to ensure independence and impartiality of the ombudsmen, Article 12 of the Law on the Ombudsman Institution provides that no authority or person can give any order or instruction, send any circular, or make any recommendation or suggestion to the Chief Ombudsman and the ombudsmen related to their duties. In addition, it is stated that the Chief Ombudsman and ombudsmen have to act in accordance with the principle of impartiality when performing their duties and it is stipulated in Article 13 5 58 https://www.venice.coe.int/webforms/documents/default.aspx?pdffile=CDL-AD(2019)005-e