Women wave national flags at an AKP rally ahead of 2015 general elections. Mahmut Bozarslan / Press Association. All rights reserved.Turkey has been at the forefront of global political interest in recent years as policy makers have struggled to deal with the Syrian crisis, and concerned citizens, journalists and academics have sought to draw attention to growing state illiberalism under the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi; hereafter AKP). Most recently, concerns have been raised following the sentencing of prominent journalist and editor of Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, Can Dündar, to five years in prison amid a wider crackdown on independent media and government critics. The impact of the Turkish state on civil society organisations (CSOs), which includes formal non-governmental organisations (NGOs), women’s organisations, advocacy, community and religious groups, has also been noted with concern, although this issue has generally received less attention.
In 2013/4, as part of my PhD research, I carried out face-to-face interviews with 44 women’s and human rights organisations from across the political, religious, and geographical spectrum in Turkey. This included interviews with Islamic, Kurdish, Kemalist, and liberal feminist organisations from across the seven geographic regions in Turkey. The emergent findings underscore the high level of state control and involvement in organised civil society. These findings raise serious questions about the future of independent CSOs in Turkey, and the broader role of civil society.
State control
“To do a project in this town you have to sit with the government in a way because you have to get permission…Engaging with them also increases the outreach [of the project]. We don’t have the luxury to disregard the state, we are aware of that.” (CSO Interview 1, January 2014).
