Examining the effects of EU Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) funding on perceptions of civil society among CSOs in Turkey: a case study of Batman province

Abstract

In an effort to meet standards established by the European Union (EU), Turkey has promoted efforts geared toward encouraging civil society. Among these efforts, are support for local civil society organizations (CSOs). This study assesses the impact of EU standards on Turkish civil society with a special focus on EU Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) funded associations in Batman Province. To this end, we analyze responses to the Civil Society Index from a sample of directors of boards for CSOs in Batman Province. Our findings indicate CSOs receiving EU IPA funding have a more positive outlook on civil society than their self-supported counterparts; however, when controlling for the mission of CSOs the results vary with associations engaged in promoting human rights, education and social assistance having less optimistic views of the advancement of civil society.

Keywords:

• Civil society
• Turkey
• European Union

Notes

1. According to Cizre (2004, 109), the Copenhagen Criteria require the implementation of institutional stability, complete freedom of expression, the entrenchment of human rights, respect and protection for minorities, and an efficient market economy.

2. Since our survey includes some sensitive data with respect to the questions employed, Turkish officials requested that the number of questions be limited in order to reduce the likelihood of revealing respondent IDs. Therefore, the survey did not contain demographic questions. Instead, it included two main questions in addition to the CSI: CSO mission and whether the association is funded by the EU or not. Accordingly, the descriptive statistics reflect only the CSO mission and the CSO’s funding status.

3. Typically, an executive board of at least 5 people is required. The board must have Turkish majority. Foreigners can be members of board provided they reside in Turkey (ICNL 2015).

4. The CIVICUS CSI can be accessed in its entirety at the official website http://www.civicus.org/csi/.

5. Previously all records of associations were held by the security forces, suggesting CSOs were considered a security risk rather than a civic asset.

6. For example, in our additive index for Structure we have a total of 22 items each assessed on an ordinal scale of 1–5, 5 indicating a stronger connection to the scale; thus, a minimum score of 22 indicates a low level of civic engagement and a maximum score of 110 indicates a high level of civic engagement with respect to the Structure dimension of CSI. The remaining indices are scored as follows: Environment – Min. 23 Max. 115; Values – Min. 12 Max. 60; Impact – Min. 15 Max. 75.