The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) welcomed its first Turkish judge officially on Wednesday as Saadet Yüksel gave her oath during a ceremony in Strasbourg. Speaking to Sabah daily on the matter, Yüksel expressed her happiness for her new position, saying that she takes her duty as a Turkish woman.

"As of today, I gave an oath as an independent, objective judge. This is a historical position for both Turkey and me. I'll pursue this honorable duty for next nine years successfully," Yüksel said, underlining that she has been supported by so many people during this process as the president of the court of cassation and the chief justice of Turkey were also present during her oath ceremony as well as the president of the constitutional court.

"They've said that this was the ceremony with the highest rate of attendance. I've received numerous supporting messages from all around Turkey since April [when it was revealed that she will be appointed as a judge]. This is a happiness that cannot be described," she emphasized. Yüksel will work as the youngest judge of the ECtHR.

Associate professor Yüksel was one of the three names nominated by Turkey to the Council of Europe's Secretary General. The list was later shared with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe's (PACE) Election Commission for Judges.

Having obtained an absolute majority of the votes cast, Yüksel will now serve for the next nine years, succeeding professor doctor Işıl Karakaş. She is expected to begin her duties within the next three months.

Yüksel completed her master's degree at Harvard University in the United States and went on to receive her doctorate at Istanbul University in Turkey.

She has also been serving as a visiting lecturer at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar for the past year and has a number of studies on constitutional law and human rights.

Yüksel is currently the head of Constitutional Law at Istanbul University and a part-time faculty member at Koç University's Faculty of Law.