Centre for Turkey Studies is working with Alliance of Turkish Businesspeople (AOTB) to hold a Public Forum at the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday, 23rd October 2018 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm.
The event will kindly be hosted and chaired by Catherine West MP and take place at Committee Room 8, Houses of Parliament.
In this panel discussion by the Centre for Turkey Studies, legal experts and campaigners will provide an overview of the recent changes to settlement applications under the so-called ‘Ankara Agreement’, and the ensuing legal challenge against the changes.
Until 16 March 2018, Turkish nationals who set up businesses in the UK under the Ankara Agreement were able to apply for settlement after four years, without paying an application fee. Following a sudden rule change, more onerous requirements have been introduced (five years of residence, an application fee of £2,389 per person, as well as passing language and Life in the UK tests).
The new rules apply retrospectively to 12,500 Turkish nationals who have already set up businesses in the UK and are currently within the four-year route. A 1,300-strong collective of Turkish entrepreneurs have formed the Alliance of Turkish Businesspeople (AOTB), a volunteer-run not-for-profit campaigning group that has launched a judicial review to challenge the retrospective application of the new rules.
For this panel discussion, we will be joined by AOTB’s co-founding director Ms Leni Candan, and the legal team behind AOTB’s judicial review: Ms Emma Daykin, Barrister at Lamb Building; and Mr Yasar Dogan, Solicitor Advocate and Non-practising Barrister at Redstone Solicitors.
SPEAKER BIOS
Emma Daykin is a barrister who represents individuals against the Home Office in all aspects of immigration, asylum and human rights, at all levels. She is ranked as a leading junior for immigration in Legal 500, which states, “She is caring, well prepared and a powerful advocate.”
Emma has particular experience in claims, both judicial review and appeals, involving the Ankara Agreement and the position of Turkish nationals seeking to establish themselves in business or working in the UK. In particular, she appeared as junior counsel led by Nathalie Lieven QC in R (otao Akturk) v SSHD [2017] WLR (D) 145; [2017] EWHC 297 (Admin), the lead case on the issue of abolition of the right of appeal for Turkish citizens seeking to exercise their freedom of establishment under the European Community Association Agreement (the Ankara Agreement) with Turkey. The Judge held that the abolition is incompatible with the Agreement in that it breaches Article 41 (1) of the Additional Protocol (standstill clause) and that incompatibility is not avoided by Administrative Review. Emma was also counsel in EK (Ankara Agreement – 1972 Rules – construction) Turkey[2010] UKUT 425 (IAC).
Yasar Dogan is a non-practising Barrister and Solicitor Advocate with Higher Rights of Audience in both Civil and Criminal matters. He graduated from University College London (UCL) with an LLB (Honours) Law degree in 2007. In 2008, he was called to the Bar by the Honourable Society of Inner Temple, having completed the Bar Vocational Course. In 2011, he cross-qualified as a solicitor and in the same year he was awarded Higher Rights of Audience in both civil and criminal matters qualifying as a Higher Courts Advocate. In June 2017, he founded Redstone Solicitors and is still practising there.
Yasar Dogan specialises in Immigration and Nationality Law. He has a particular interest in the Ankara Agreement, having provided advice and representation in several applications, appeals and judicial reviews involving the Ankara Agreement since 2008. He is currently advising and acting in a number of judicial review cases challenging the legal propositions in the case of Aydogdu v SSHD.
Leni Candan is a communications consultant for not-for-profit organisations. After becoming impacted by the sudden changes to Ankara Agreement settlement rules only weeks before she was due to apply for settlement, Leni founded a campaigning group to fight the retrospective application of these changes. The group later became the Alliance of Turkish Businesspeople (AOTB) and has recently filed for permission to launch a judicial review challenging the retrospectively effective changes.
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