In recent days, there have been news in the written and visual media that a decision has been taken by the All Private Public Transportation Buses Association (TÖHOB) to abolish the free public transportation service provided to people over the age of 65 and disabled people in all private public transportation public buses in Türkiye. In the aforementioned news, it was stated that the decision taken by TÖHOB was postponed until 15 October.

The prohibition of discrimination is at the core of international human rights law and is specifically regulated in many international and regional human rights conventions. Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 2 of the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights set out the basic principles regarding the prohibition of discrimination in this framework. The prohibition of discrimination is an inseparable part of the principle of equality.

Article 10 of the Constitution of the Republic of Türkiye titled "Equality before the Law" states that everyone is equal before the law without any discrimination based on language, race, color, sex, political thought, philosophical belief, religion, sect and similar reasons. In Article 3 of the Law on the Human Rights and Equality Institution of Türkiye with No. 6701, it is prohibited to discriminate against persons based on the grounds of “sex, race, colour, language, religion, belief, sect, philosophical or political opinion, ethnical origin, wealth, birth, marital status, health status, disability and age” in the exercise of legally recognized rights and freedoms. The prohibition of discrimination and the principle of equality are of great importance in terms of benefiting from other rights and freedoms as well as being a right itself. In this sense, it is necessary to prohibit discrimination and ensure equality in terms of benefiting from the freedom of movement.

Freedom of movement is guaranteed by many regulations at the national and international level. According to Article 23 of the Constitution of the Republic of Türkiye: “Everyone has the right to freedom of residence and movement.” Freedom of movement, which is based on being able to move freely, is one of the fundamental rights that individuals should have in terms of maintaining their life functions and ensuring their social and economic development (Nesibe Gürbüz, A View on Freedom of Movement in the National and International Area and Its Relationship with Other Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, HREIT Academic Journal, 2019, p, 95-126).

One of the appearance of discrimination that may arise in terms of benefiting from the freedom of movement is indirect discrimination. Indirect discrimination can be defined as any kind of seemingly non-discriminatory act, procedure or practise which puts a natural person or legal person at an objectively unjustifiable disadvantage in terms of exercise off legally recognized rights and freedoms. A concept that should be emphasized in the elimination of indirect discrimination is the principle of social state.

The principle of social state necessitates taking measures to eliminate inequalities that may arise in terms of disadvantaged individuals in the provision of transportation services, as in many other areas. As stated in Article 2 of the Constitution, the Republic of Türkiye is a social state governed by rule of law. Within the framework of the social state principle, many policies are being developed for disadvantaged groups in our country. The aforementioned policies are based on the provision that the measures to be taken for groups of persons, which are also included in Article 10 of the Constitution, will not be considered contrary to the principle of equality. Among the groups of persons listed in the aforementioned provision, there are also the elderly and the disabled. Because it is a human right to support the participation of people in old age, which can be described as a period of wisdom, and to provide opportunities for their potential to emerge (HREIT, Türkiye Report on the Rights of the Elderly, p. 21).

On the other hand, the right to be included in the society regulated in Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities includes access to social life and all services offered to the public, and supporting the services provided to ensure the full inclusion of persons with disabilities in social life. These services can be associated with all other facilities and services offered to the public, including housing, transportation, shopping, education, employment, recreational activities and social media.

For all these reasons, some regulations that constitute positive discrimination for the elderly and the disabled have been implemented in our country. One of these regulations is related to the right to free movement. Accordingly, in the second and third paragraphs of the first Article of the Law on the Tariffs of Goods and Services Produced by Public Institutions and Organizations with No. 4736, dated 19 January 2002, persons who can benefit from the right to movement travel are counted. According to the aforementioned provision, individuals with a minimum of 40% disability, severely disabled individuals and their companions up to one person, veterans, relatives of veterans and martyrs, Turkish citizens over the age of 65 can benefit from the right of movement free of charge.

The procedures and principles regarding benefiting from the right to free movement are determined by the Regulation on Free or Discounted Travel Cards prepared by the Ministry of Family and Social Services (ASHB) and published in the Official Gazette dated 4 March 2014 and numbered 28931. It is not possible to prevent this right if the documents listed in the aforementioned Regulation regarding benefiting from the right to free movement are submitted.

In the ninth paragraph of Article 1 of the Law with No. 4736, it has been stated that for each transportation vehicle that provides urban public transportation services and private sea transportation vehicles belonging to private individuals or companies authorized by the municipalities, the operators of these are paid monthly income support through the relevant municipalities from the appropriation allocated to the Ministry of Family and Social Services budget for this purpose. As a matter of fact, with the Regulations Amending the Regulation on the Procedures and Principles Regarding the Income Support Payment to be Made within the Scope of Free Movement, published in the Official Gazette dated 1 April 2023 and numbered 32150 and the Official Gazette dated 24 May 2023 and numbered 32200, increases were made to the free transportation income support.

Law with No. 4736 also covers private individuals or companies authorized by municipalities. In the seventh paragraph of Article 1 of the aforementioned Law, it is regulated that the relevant institutions, municipalities and private individuals or companies authorized by the municipalities will take the necessary measures regarding the use of the right to free and discounted movement. In addition, if the right to free or discounted movement is not used, it is stipulated that an administrative fine amounting to fifty full ticket prices over the tariff of the public transport vehicle will be imposed by the local authority for each person who does not benefit from this right.

Our Institution, whose main mission is to guarantee the right of people to be treated equally on the basis of human dignity, and to prevent discrimination in the enjoyment of legally recognized rights and freedoms, draws attention to the importance of the right to free movement for the elderly and disabled individuals to enjoy their rights equally, and closely follows the allegations reflected in the written and visual media within the framework of its institutional mission.

Respectfully announced to the public.