Hafıza Merkezi Berlin (HMB) aims to be a hub to facilitate exchange between civil society actors from Turkey and Europe to foster joint advocacy, effective solidarity and action. 

Hafiza Merkezi Berlin was founded within a global context of rising authoritarian governments, increasing nationalism and right-wing extremist movements. This increasingly alarming trend of the erosion of the rule of law and a setback in human rights at a global scale puts human rights advocates, truth seekers and defenders of accountability under a growing pressure to act.

This has a direct impact on the shrinking civil space that secures the democratic basis of the society. Turkey is one of the countries which has had more than its fair share of this pressure and restricted civic space. Under these circumstances, the founders of Hafıza Merkezi, a human rights organization operating in İstanbul since 2011, decided to establish an independent organization in Berlin. The main aim was to engage more directly with the international human rights system, engage with human rights issues in countries other than their own and build bridges between different countries, groups and activists through internationalisation, knowledge production and civil engagement. We were established as a Berlin based organization in 2018 and received our charity status the same year.

Based on the comprehensive accumulation of knowledge and expertise stemming from its sister organisation Hafiza Merkezi, HMB aims to promote human rights in alliance with other international actors, with the goal of fostering change at a global level. We believe in the significance of international advocacy and solidarity actions with a comparative perspective to tackle the global backlash. To this end, we aim to support CSOs in Turkey and in Europe and to establish long-term, efficient relationships in order to define common agendas for the global human rights movement defending democracy, rule of law and peace.