20.10.2021 Antalya
Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ATSO) Arbitration and Mediation Center was opened with a ceremony. M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), said at the ceremony held at ATSO that they have taken an important step for the business world in Antalya.
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that complaints such as slow operation of the judicial system were encountered
due to excessive file load, and that after TOBB and chambers undertook this as
an effort on alternative solutions, they created the mediation system first in
business-employer disputes, then in commercial cases and consumers.
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that the use of this system is increasing day by day and that the number of
files received is close to 2.5 million, and that 70 percent of them resulted in
an agreement.
Emphasizing that the
trials that used to last for years ended in days and weeks, Hisarcıklıoğlu
said: “Access to justice has accelerated. It's also a win-win method. Because
people have been spared the loss of time and the long process that has worn
them out financially, and our judicial system has been spared an important
workload. Thus, the grievances decreased and the sense of justice began to
strengthen. Disputes were settled justly. Therefore, mediation also contributed
to social peace.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that they give all manner of support as the chamber and commodity exchange
community and that they make great efforts for it to be recognized and known in
the business world.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
explained that they encouraged the chambers to establish such centers, and
continued: “Within TOBB, we have launched the UYUM Mediation and Dispute
Resolution Center. Currently, these mediation centers have been implemented in
31 chambers and work continues in 19 chambers. 390 mediators have also started
to work in these centers. Once such infrastructure was provided, these centers
increasingly led our business world to mediation. Currently, the number of
applications to mediation across the country has reached 100,000 per month. So
the step we took was a success. Information about this issue has increased in
the community and people are starting to see the benefits of this.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated
that a 2-year inheritance case involving 28 different people in Seydişehir was
resolved in 4 hours in mediation, and that time is the most important capital
in commercial life, and that this system saves significant time.
Hisarciklıoğlu stated
that any arrangement that will facilitate trade, strengthen the economy and
judicial system, and contribute to social peace is important to them. The legal
system is the pillar of the state and the economy. If the law is strong,
people's trust in each other, institutions and the system increases. If a sense
of justice and trust is strong in a country, the economy of that country will
be strong.”
- “A very important way to access justice”
Cemil Çiçek, chairman
of the TOBB Mediation and Dispute Resolution Center, stated that an important
institution has entered service.
Çiçek asked ATSO
President Davut Çetin to inform the members about the institution at the first council
meeting. “It's a very important way to access justice, but there are people
who don't know it yet. Disseminating this to a wider audience will also
facilitate judicial functioning. It's the right way. An important step has been
taken.”
ATSO President Davut Çetin
also announced that 37 lawyers have been signed at the center so far.