April 21, 2025

As the Hrant Dink Foundation, we consider it our responsibility to inform the public about the compensation case lodged against our foundation by former employee Caner Gönder regarding unfair termination.

On June 12, 2023, an 18-month fixed-term employment contract was signed between the foundation and our former employee as "inclusive language workshop trainer." However, the foundation legally terminated the employment contract on December 8, 2023, justified on the employee "claiming to possess the necessary qualifications or conditions for one of the essential points of the employment contract at the time of signing, when in fact these qualifications or conditions were not present."

On March 28, 2025, a meeting was held at the foundation with our former employee, along with his union representative and attorney. During the meeting, they requested that we withdraw our objections to appeal. The foundation informed them that the matter would be brought before the foundation's Board of Directors on April 18, and a response would be provided. Although Gönder stated that he would await the decision of this board meeting, without waiting for the outcome of that meeting, he released statements on social media that did not reflect the truth, after which he also chose to issue a press release.

The foundation's Board of Directors, which convened on April 18, 2025, evaluated the request of the former employee and his attorney to withdraw our appeal.

Meanwhile, for reasons which we cannot understand, due to a "technical malfunction" in the e-notification system during the lower court process, our foundation became aware of the lawsuit only at the final stage, and therefore could not exercise its right to defend itself and could not present the justifications for termination to the court. At this stage, we would like to emphasize that the compensation amount in question has been blocked ın the foundation’s bank account as required under the enforcement file, and if higher court's decision is in favor of the former employee, it will be paid immediately with accumulated interest without causing any financial loss. Under no circumstances would our foundation fail to comply with court decisions; we are merely exercising our legal rights for a fair trial.

As a non-profit organization that does not aim for profit, does not accumulate capital or have owners like private sector companies, has limited resources, and is obligated to regularly report how resources are used, it is our Board of Directors' institutional responsibility to wait for the completion of the legal process to ensure the proper use of these resources.

As the Hrant Dink Foundation, throughout our work we have always taken care to adopt a respectful, fair, and transparent approach to rights. We find it difficult to see good faith in attempting to turn a legal dispute -which is proceeding in its ordinary course and where our former colleague will receive what he is entitled to if the court decides in his favor- into a campaign against our foundation. We would like to remind everyone that rights-focused civil society organizations can easily become targets. In the legitimate pursuits of rights against such institutions, we invite everyone to act responsibly and sensitively regarding the choice of method, medium, and style, and to ensure that such processes progress on legal grounds.

As the Hrant Dink Foundation, we evaluate every activity we carry out and every experience we gain as a learning opportunity, and we consider it important to share this knowledge and these gains. Throughout this process as well, we are listening, learning, and thinking. Based on this experience, rather than engage in superficial discussions, we plan to organize a series of education and experience-sharing sessions where we will constructively and comprehensively address working relationships in the civil society sector and the challenges faced by civil society organizations and their employees. With this series, we aim to make a meaningful contribution to civil society, and your experiences will be valuable to us.

Respectfully,
Hrant Dink Foundation

You may also read our announcement dated April 17, 2025.