Civil society- state relations in Turkey: Analysis of legislative infrastructure and institutional reforms

Abstract

This paper discusses the way the institutional and legal mechanisms initiated, reformed and practiced regarding the civil society organizations and public sector relations in Turkey and assess their compatibility to the international standards and capability to bring out an affirmative action to enlarge and strengthen the enabling environment for civil society and improve the accountability and transparency of the public institutions. To do that, it particularly focuses on the way in which the civil society- public sector relations are constructed both in legal documents and institutional structures by citing particular attempts and examples of cooperation between public institutions and CSOs. The paper has three major parts: the first part gives a very brief review on international standards on civil society- public sector cooperation, particularly relying on the Code of Good Practice on Civil Participation prepared during the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe. The second part focuses on the enabling environment for civil society and state cooperation in Turkey by outlining the legislative infrastructure and the institutional mechanisms both at local and central levels. Finally, at the end, the problems civil society organizations are facing in practice is analyzed by elaborating the major problems and obstacles reported in civil society needs assessment reports prepared by the cooperation of CSOs and EU support mechanisms in Turkey and the new initiatives to remedy such problems are presented.