Despite protests from the Turkish opposition Republican People’s Party and the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, Mehmet Nihat Ömeroğlu was sworn in yesterday as Turkey’s first ombudsman.

Controversy surrounded his candidacy since Ömeroğlu was one of the judges on the Supreme Court of Appeals that had sustained a lower court ruling charging Hrant Dink with “insulting Turkishness” according to Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.

When asked by journalists whether he had anticipated any protests from CHP deputies, Ömeroğlu, who left the Parliament following the oath-taking ceremony, said: “Lawmakers are free to do what they want. Not only can they say anything, they can also protest anything. This is natural in democracies.”