NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS AS A HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION MECHANISM: THE CASES OF THE OMBUDSMAN AND HUMAN RIGHTS AND EQUALITY INSTITUTION OF TURKEY But, as specified above, it is of great importance that the CSOs with which cooperation will be established are those devoted to promoting and protecting human rights, to economic and social development, to combating racism, to protecting particularly vulnerable groups (especially children, migrant workers, refugees and disabled persons). This collaboration is expected to cover not only CSOs but also the related groups themselves and establish a sustainable dialogue with these groups. Practices of the Institution for the first four years reveal that the aforementioned requirements have been completely ignored. The Institution does not have any policy document on cooperation with CSOs and has a tacit policy not to cooperate with groups frequently exposed to discriminatory treatment up to now. 5. TIHEK and Accessibility Finally, accessibility will be covered regarding working methods. As mentioned above, equality institutions must be accessible for the persons for whom they are established to protect their rights. Evaluated based on this liability embodied in para. 40 of ECRI GPT2, TIHEK does not meet international standards in terms of accessibility. Firstly, the Institution does not have any office outside Ankara. The institution does not have any local outreach program or local or regional office. As a public institution, the Institution must be accessible to people with disabilities in accordance with Article 7 of the Law on Persons with Disabilities No. 5378. Although Article 44 of TIHEK Regulation stipulates that the Institution will take measures required for the persons with disabilities to file an application, it seems that the Institution does not perform any special activity to either fulfill its liability arising out of the Law on the Persons with Disabilities or to achieve accessibility as per the relevant provision of the Regulation and harmonize the services offered thereby for the persons with disabilities. The Institution's website contains summary information about the means of application but it is observed that the Institution's website is only published in Turkish and in English though in a limited sense and it is not possible to access any information in any other common language in Turkey such as Kurdish and Arabic etc. In addition, although TIHEK Law does not contain any provision stipulating that applications must be filed in Turkish, Article 33 of TIHEK Regulation provides that any application will be filed in Turkish but it is also possible for the Institution to admit an application filed in another language through which the applicant can express himself/herself better if the Institution considers it justified and reasonable. In practice, it is not known whether or not the Institution allows for the filing of an application in a language through which the victims of discrimination feel themselves sufficient. The information obtained through open sources shows that the Institution does not offer any flexibility to respond to the time restrictions of those wishing to access to its services. During the first four years, the Institution did not meet either the CSOs dealing with non-discrimination or the groups exposed to discrimination and did not stand by the persons or groups exposed to discrimination in any of the significant discrimination cases causing public resentment. As a final remark on accessibility, it is observed that the procedural rules on applications are too complex to be lodged without seeking any legal assistance. Three positive aspects stand out regarding accessibility. These positive points are the Institution's provision of services through online channels, e-mail and phone, the 38