Turkey: the battle for State secularism has a new player: the non profit sector

One and a half million people in Smirne, one million in Istambul. The battle for State secularism in Turkey began filling the squares towards the end of April and the movement against the premier, Tayyp Erdogan?s, pro-Islamic Government does not seem to want to stop. The protests have brought a new player into the front light ? the Turkish non-profit sector. To lead the protests that took place on the 30th of April in Istambul were 400 lay, non governmental organisations. This complex issue is further exacerbated by the nearing presidential elections on the 22nd of July and by the looming question of Turkey?s membership to the European Union. Ertugrul Kurkcu is a journalist and former political dissident, he directs Bianet, a news portal that deals with non-profit issues and that is co-financed by the European Union.

What kind of non profit organisations played an active role in the mobilisation in Smirne and Ankara?
In Turkey there are NGOs from every shade of the political spectrum. The so called Ngos who played a major part in mobilising the movement for the latest anti Islamic rallies are generally nationalist NGOs who have semi official support form the army, the armed forces and the political parties who oppose the Government as well as from some parts of the media. We cannot therefore speak of a totally independent Ngo movement; they do, however have their own agenda, their own program and they have considerable support among the local, lets say, white collar workers, trades people etc.

Are you saying that the NGOs that led the mobilization are not independent?
In one sense we can say they are independent of the Government but we cannot say they are independent of political interests. There is always a political inclination and political parties support them, or they have the support from the President of the Republic etc. So we can say that they are both encouraged and tolerated by the army. Today there was an interview with one of the leading figures of the rallies, her name is Turkan Sailand and she is a professor of medicine, she says that the army's latest warning against the government has contributed to the rallies by encouraging people to rally in the squares in big cities. This is an open statement, however we cannot say that these NGOs are mechanically controlled by the army – they share similar interests and similar approaches and if the army takes a step forward this encourages them, that?s all. So on the one hand they are NGOs, there is no doubt about that, but on the other hand their political position is closer to certain parts of the political spectrum so they get support, maybe not directly from the government but from the president, from political parties and from the media so it?s not a pure Ngo movement. I doubt that there is any ?pure? NGO movement in any part of the world.

According to you, were the mobilisations in Smirne and Ankara just political or were people involved as well?
The mobilisation particularly reflects women?s point of view. It reflects the existence of a real concern, although we cannot say that the present Government is an Islamist Government, they do have an Islamic background and this is an issue that particularly concerns women, who are those that are most affected, for example by having to cover their heads with scarves. On the one hand, people rise up against this and they are right in this sense, on the other hand these concerns are also manipulated for political reasons. The mobilisation lies within the limits of democracy, however, and people are using their democratic rights to express their opinion and concerns and demands.

What is the non profit sector like in Turkey today?
The number of non profit organisations and NGOs in Turkey, compared to Europe or USA, is rather low but when compared to other parts of the Arab world, Middle east, Africa and Asia it can be seen to be more vivid so we can say it is in transition. The legal framework was narrower in the past but during the last ten years Turkey has undergone a total reformation process in order to meet the Copenhagen criteria for Turkey's EU membership bid. The legal framework is relatively broader now and the amount and quality of NGO activity is growing, particularly over the last four or five years. NGOs however generally lack funds and opportunities for broadening and increasing their activities so this is a major problem. There is also another side to the debate: international support is generally criticised by the Government or official bodies when it collides with their interests. For example, NGOs working with minority groups are generally considered inappropriate. There is no legal obstacle to their action but politically and intellectually they are under pressure so they cannot raise funds easily and are in need of international support.

What kind of social projects do NGOs work on?
You will find scores of NGOs in every kind of social activity but they are generally very small. There are thousands of associations and NGOs in Turkey but those who are doing the most effective work are those that work with human, women and children rights. There are also organizations that work in non-political areas such as development, urbanism, and any other sort of social activity, culture, folklore etc. In this sense we can say that the Third Sector in Turkey is vivid but unfortunately, most of the NGOs work on a local scale so they don?t have much impact on national life.

Do you think that NGOs have a role to play in Turkey?s entry in the European Union?
Yes. Since 2004, a new law regulating the non profit sector allows foreign NGOs to work in Turkey. Now European NGOs can open branches in Turkey and can cooperate with local NGOs and also support them. There are four German foundations currently at work in Turkey and many more could start working in our country. People, nevertheless, hold a different opinion.

Are you claiming that the Turks don?t want to enter the European Union?
In the past people were very much interested in entering the Union, say 3 ? 5 years ago, but since the membership negotiations started things have changed. Now about half of the population is in favour of joining the Eu while the other half doesn?t want to. People particularly suffered the negative judgments of Western leaders like Sarkosy, Merkel and Le Pin; many people felt humiliated.

What does Bianet do?
Our project comprises of a website, and 4 different projects.The first is the production of news which is done through the website and with the editorial facilities we have behind the website. The second is a radio program for the local media based on children's, women's and human rights. The third project involves the monitoring of freedom of expression and this is done through quarterly and annual reports. The last project involves providing legal support to the local media.

Where do you source your funds?
80% comes from the European Union. We also have international and local donors, among them are Unicef, Cedar from Sweeden and Presnow from the Nethetherlands. So we are running our projects with both international and domestic financial support. We also have support from local human rights and freedom of expression NGOs and the cooperation of international organisations that have similar concerns to ours.

What about your project? Does it have a direct impact on people?
Our projects are generally confined to media work and the social aspect of the projects are directed at local media training and journalism students training, book publishing, conferences etc.

Is the press independent in Turkey?
We can say that the situation is very similar to Italy, we have our own Berlusconis … Maybe the main difference between Italy and Turkey is that in Turkey the media are very closely connected to business.The media that do not belong to business groups are generally small left wing newspapers and there are three of these all based in Istambul. One of them is owned by a collective of people, generally small income people who have made a cooperative to publish the newspaper and it is left wing. The second was created by members of a political party who came together to set up the newspaper and it is also left wing; the third independent newsparer is Kurdish owned. The circulation of these types of media is relatively small ? the biggest Turkish newspaper sells 600,000 copies a day while the smaller ones sell around 20,000 copies a day – so their impact is much narrower. In terms of television, almost all the TV stations are owned by business groups, there are, however some independent TV stations on cable as it is cheaper and requires less investment. There are also of course several independent local TV and radio stations.

For more info:

• www.bianet.org