Active Citizenship in Turkey

Abstract

This chapter is focused on the Turkish development of active citizenship. This is initially presented by taking into account three core categories that are: (1) state/society relations, (2) determinants of reform and political conditions, and (3) characteristics of active citizenship. In line with current literature, I argue that that the definition of different components of active citizenship in the Turkish context is strongly affected by the strong state tradition that still characterizes the political and social context. Even if different processes and dynamics – both internal and external – have emerged throughout the years posing a clear challenge to the Turkish model, the possibilities to exercise participatory behaviors are still rather limited. This results in the fact that active citizenship in Turkey is an important yet volatile concept. The analysis of interviews and policy documents confirms this trend, outlining some of the issues that are still contentious, such as the absence of a legal framework for civil society organizations. Disadvantaged groups, especially, lament the fact that various factors strongly limit their possibilities to play a role in Turkish politics and society and eventually to exercise influence on the policy agenda. The Europeanization process is a central dimension that emerged during the analysis, as an important factor of democratization. However, the recent migration crisis and the EU/Turkey agreement of 2015 have – in the views of the activists that I interviewed – put at stake the validity of such values.