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‘A Gap in the Bridge?’: European Union Civil Society Financial Assistance in Turkey

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Abstract

While external programmes developing civil society receive criticism for adhering to a Westernised, neo-Tocquevillean development model, the case of the European Union (EU) and Turkey is different. Turkey's European aspirations legitimise the efforts to ‘democratise’ its civil society, and the EU-propelled political reform programme has helped to expand the variety of voices in Turkish civil society. The impact of external funding on civil society, however, is contingent on the way the aims of this assistance are interpreted in the context of domestic political debates. This article uses examples from the Turkish women's movement to illustrate the complex socio-political debates about religion and secularism that inform NGO behaviour. By implementing an external agenda that draws on the European model of civil society, and which steers away from the government's domestic agenda for civil society, the EU policy has the potential to undermine the successes of the broader political reform process.

Si les programmes externes de développement de la société civile sont l’objet d’importantes critiques en raison de leur attachement au modèle de développement occidental et néo tocquevillien, le cas de l’Union européenne (UE) et de la Turquie est différent. Les aspirations européennes de cette dernière légitiment les efforts entrepris pour ‘démocratiser’ sa société civile, et le programme de réformes politiques impulsé par l’Union européenne favorise la pluralité politique au sein de la société civile Turque. L’impact des financements externes sur la société civile dépend cependant de la manière dont les objectifs de cette aide sont interprétés dans le cadre des débats politiques internes. Cet article s’appuie sur des exemples provenant du mouvement des femmes en Turquie afin d’illustrer les débats socio-politiques complexes concernant la religion et la laïcité, et qui façonnent de manière inéluctable le comportement des ONG dans ce pays. En mettant en œuvre des programmes externes inspirés du modèle de société civile européen, en s'éloignant du programme interne de développement de la société civile élaboré par le gouvernement Turque, la politique de l’UE pourrait potentiellement miner les succès de l’ensemble du processus de réforme politique entamé dans ce pays.

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Notes

  1. The term NGOs here refers to formal, private, non-profit, self-governing and voluntary organisations that have a recognised legal status (for example, as an association or a foundation) (Salamon and Anheier, 1992). Such organisations work on a variety of issues stretching from human rights and environmental protection to culture and sports. Civil society, of course, hosts a much broader array of CSOs that inhabit the civil societal space. Although NGOs themselves come in a variety of sizes and degrees of professionalisation, they tend to be responsible for the more formal activities in civil society and therefore, in the Turkish context, are high on the list of potential partners for the EU.

  2. MEDA stands for mesure d’ajustement and forms the central framework for most EU aid to the non-member states of the Mediterranean region.

  3. These organisations are Deniz Feneri, Kimse Yok Mu Yardilaşma ve Dayanışma Derneği, İstanbul Uluslararası Kardeşlik ve Yardımlaşma Derneği, Can Suyu Yardımlaşma ve Dayanişma Derneği and İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri ve İnsani Yardım Vakfi.

  4. Fethullah Gülen spearheads a movement that encourages Muslims to become more involved in the social political life of Turkey without compromising their Islamic identity. This is possible, he argues, as long as a dialogue exists between Muslim and secular elements of society. The Gülen movement is a prime example of how religiously motivated associational activity has become increasingly commonplace in Turkey.

  5. Personal interview: 8 August 2007.

  6. Personal interview: 3 April 2008.

  7. Personal interview: 1 April 2008.

  8. Series of personal interviews between August 2007 and April 2008.

  9. Personal interview: 14 April 2008.

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Acknowledgements

I am very grateful for the comments received from the two anonymous reviewers. I would also like to thank David Lewis, Jude Howell and Ben Jones for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article.

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  1. Department of Social Policy, London School of Economic and Political Science, UK

    Markus Ketola

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Ketola, M. ‘A Gap in the Bridge?’: European Union Civil Society Financial Assistance in Turkey. Eur J Dev Res 24, 89–104 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1057/ejdr.2011.32

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