The Role of Humanitarian NGOs in Turkey's Peacebuilding

Abstract

This article illuminates the role of international HNGOs in Turkey's peacebuilding. Turkish HNGOs pursue low-level peacebuilding, focusing on interaction with grassroots, as opposed to the high-level peacebuilding of the state based on official interaction. Despite being independent, at times they become subsumed by the discourse, priorities and policies of the government and develop an interest in shaping official policies which carry the risk of politicizing the aid. While some of their key features such as flexibility, absence of conditionality, ensuring sustainability, relying on private donations and pursuing advocacy follow the mainstream peacebuilding lines, others such as culture and religion as catalysts and representing and promoting Turkey abroad demonstrate a deviation. Although the institutional consolidation of these HNGOs as a sector remains a distant goal, they are not likely to disappear given the considerable societal and political will behind their work. Their success depends on building a comprehensive strategy with efficient coordination and cooperation in a pluralist environment.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Bülent Aras is Senior Scholar and Coordinator of the Conflict Resolution and Mediation stream at Istanbul Policy Center, Professor of International Relations in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Sabancı University and Global Fellow at Wilson Center. He is Academic Coordinator of the Project on the Middle East and the Arab Spring (POMEAS). His current research interests include the geopolitics of the Arab Spring, non-state actors in peacebuilding and bridging the gap between theory and practice in foreign policy. Recent work has been published in Middle East Policy, Political Science Quarterly, Third World Quarterly, International Journal, Journal of Balkans and Near Eastern Studies, and Journal of Third World Studies.

Pınar Akpınar is research fellow at the Conflict Resolution and Mediation Stream and the POMEAS of Istanbul Policy Center. She is also a Ph.D. candidate at the School of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy, Keele University, writing her dissertation on Turkey's Multiple Mediation Attempts: A Non-Western Mediator on the Periphery. Her current research interests include the role of mediation and peacebuilding in Turkish and Qatari foreign policies as well as the role of humanitarian NGOs in Turkey’s peacebuilding.

Notes

1. Johan Galtung, ‘Twenty-Five Years of Peace Research: Ten Challenges and Some Responses’, Journal of Peace Research, Vol.22, No.2, 1985, p.145.

2. UN, ‘An Agenda for Peace’, Forty-Seventh Session, UN doc., A.47.277, II.21, 1992 (at: www.un-documents.net/a47-277.htm).

3. Jacob Bercovitch and Richard Jackson, Conflict Resolution in the Twenty-First Century: Principles, Methods and Approaches, Michigan: The University of Michigan Press, 2012, p.168.

4. Ibid.

5. Henry F. Carey, ‘Conclusion: NGO Dilemmas in Peace Processes’, International Peacekeeping, Vol.10, No.1, 2010, pp.172–9.

6. Thania Paffenholz and Christoph Spurk, ‘Civil Society, Civic Engagement, and Peacebuilding’, Social Development Papers: Conflict Prevention and Reconstruction, No.36, 2006, p.18.

7. Michael Scholms, ‘Humanitarian NGOs in Peace Operations’, in Henry F. Carey and Oliver P. Richmond (eds), Mitigating Conflict: The Role of NGOs, Portland, OR: Frank Cass, 2003, pp.40–55.

8. Oliver P. Richmond and Ioannis Tellidis, ‘Emerging Actors in International Peacebuilding and Statebuilding: Status Quo or Critical States?’, Global Governance, Vol.20, No.4, 2014, pp.563–84.

9. Cedric de Coning, John Karlsrud and LotteVermeij, ‘Emerging Powers and the Global South: Evidence for a New Phase of Engagement’, NUPI Policy Brief, No.6, 2013.

10. The NGOs participating in the workshop were the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), Kimse Yok Mu, Doctors Worldwide, Cansuyu Foundation, Deniz Feneri Foundation, Association of Doctors of Hope (UHDER), Diyanet Foundation, World Orphans Foundation (DÜNYEV), Dost Eli Foundation, Turkish Green Crescent, Beşir Foundation, Yardım Eli [Helping Hand] Foundation, the Union of NGOs of the Islamic World, Kutup Yıldızı Foundation and HASENE Foundation.

11. Some of these HNGOs include Sadakataşı, Nile Foundation, BISEG – Une Seule Humanité, RIDA [International Foundation on Aid for Orphans and Needy].

12. Oliver P. Richmond, A Post-Liberal Peace, Oxon: Routledge, 2011; Roger Mac Ginty, International Peacebuilding and Local Resistance: Hybrid Forms of Peace, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011; Morgan Brigg and Roland Bleiker, Mediating across Difference: Oceanic and Asian Approaches to Conflict Resolution, Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press, 2011.

13. Anthony J. Bebbington, Samuel Hickey and Diana C. Mitlin, ‘Introduction: Can NGOs Make a Difference? The Challenge of Development Alternatives’, in Anthony J. Bebbington, Samuel Hickey and Diana C. Mitlin (eds), Can NGOs Make a Difference? The Challenge of Development Alternatives, London: Zed Books, 2008, p.6.

14. Ibid.

15. Jude Howell and Jenny Pearce, Civil Society and Development, Colorado: Lynne Rienner, 2001, p.72.

16. Oliver P. Richmond, ‘Introduction: NGOs, Peace and Human Security’, International Peacekeeping, Vol.10, No.1, 2010, p.5.

17. Scholms (see n.7 above), p.40.

18. Ahmet İçduygu, ‘Interacting Actors: The EU and Civil Society in Turkey’, South European Society and Politics, Vol.16, No.3, 2011, pp.382–3.

19. See Binnaz Toprak, ‘Civil Society in Turkey’, in Augustus Richard Norton (ed.), Civil Society in the Middle East, Leiden: EJ Brill, 1995, pp.87–119.

20. Paul Kubicek, ‘The Earthquake, Civil Society, and Political Change in Turkey: Assessment and Comparison with Eastern Europe’, Political Studies, Vol.50, No.4, 2002, pp.761–78.

21. Ayşe Kadıoğlu, ‘Civil Society, Islam and Democracy in Turkey: A Study of Three Islamic NGOs’, The Muslim World, Vol.95, No.1, 2005, pp.23–43.

22. Ani Sarkissian and Ş. İlgüÖzler, ‘Democratization and the Politicization of Religious Civil Society in Turkey’, Democratization, Vol.20, No.6, 2013, pp.1014–35; Sefa Simsek, ‘The Transformation of Civil Society in Turkey: From Quantity to Quality’, Turkish Studies, Vol.5, No.3, 2004, pp.46–74.

23. See Bahar Rumelili, ‘Civil Society and the Europeanization of Greek–Turkish Cooperation’, South European Society and Politics, Vol.10, No.1, 2005, pp.43–54.

24. Ahmet Davutoğlu, ‘Turkey's Humanitarian Diplomacy: Objectives, Challenges and Prospects’, Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity, Vol.41, No.6, 2013, pp.865–70.

25. Pınar Akpınar, ‘Turkey's Peacebuilding in Somalia: The Limits of Humanitarian Diplomacy’, Turkish Studies, Vol.14, No.4, 2013, pp.735–57.

26. Turkey mediates a number of conflicts in the Middle East, the Balkans and Africa in addition to co-leading the Friends of Mediation Initiative with Finland within the UN. See Ahmet Davutoğlu, ‘Turkey's Mediation: Critical Reflections from the Field’, Middle East Policy, Vol.20, No.1, 2013, pp.83–90; Bülent Aras, ‘Turkey's Mediation and Friends of Mediation Initiative’, SAM Papers, No.4, 2012.

27. Tanya Spencer, ‘A Synthesis of Evaluations of Peacebuilding Activities Undertaken by Humanitarian Agencies and Conflict Resolution Organisations’, Active Learning Network on Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action, 1998, p.28.

28. E. Fuat Keyman and Onur Sazak, ‘Turkey as a “Humanitarian State”’, POMEAS Policy Paper, No.2, July 2014.

29. For instance, Kimse Yok Mu has stand-by search and rescue teams in 11 cities in Turkey, ready to be mobilized in case of emergency. The comments were made by Yusuf Yıldırım, Coordinator of Foreign Aid at Kimse Yok Mu, at the meeting on the Role of NGOs in Turkey's Peacebuilding, Istanbul Policy Centre, Istanbul, 3 Dec. 2013.

30. As one of the most active NGOs, IHH's priority areas are war and crisis zones, natural disaster zones and zones of poverty. According to Şahin, the reason for these priority areas is the lack of NGOs operating in these zones, and therefore the particular necessity. The comments were made by İzzet Şahin, Board Member and Diplomacy Coordinator at IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, at the meeting on the Role of NGOs in Turkey's Peacebuilding, Istanbul Policy Centre, Istanbul, 3 Dec. 2013.

31. An offshoot of Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs; although the main focus of Diyanet Foundation is religious aid, the foundation has also delivered humanitarian aid in a number of countries.

32. This information is based on the meeting on the Role of NGOs in Turkey's Peacebuilding, Istanbul Policy Centre, Istanbul, 3 Dec. 2013.

33. Kimse Yok Mu operates in 103 countries; Beşir Foundation operates in 52 countries and regions. The comments were made by Ahmet Koçak, UHDER, at the meeting on the Role of NGOs in Turkey's Peacebuilding, Istanbul Policy Centre, Istanbul, 3 Dec. 2013.

34. In line with its medical relief activities Doctors Worldwide carries out projects such as the Smiling Children Project, a project aimed at curing children with Pierre Robin Syndrome and hypospadias; Violets of Hope which targets women patients mainly in Niger with obstetric fistula. ‘Smiling Children Project’, Doctors Worldwide website (at: www.yyd.org.tr/projeler/tedavi-edici-saglik-projeleri/gulumseyen-cocuklar-projesi.html?showall=&start=2).

35. UHDER's activities include conducting medical scans and surgeries, offering specialized medical training to medical personnel, delivering medical equipment and medicines (see n.33 above).

36. ‘Types and Fields of Activity’, IHH website (at: www.ihh.org.tr/en/main/pages/calisma-tur-ve-alanlarimiz/136).

37. The NGOs that actively carry out cataract surgeries are IHH, Kimse Yok Mu, Doctors Worldwide and Hasene Foundation.

38. The comments were made by İhsan Karaman, chair of the board of Doctors Worldwide, at the meeting on the Role of NGOs in Turkey's Peacebuilding, Istanbul Policy Centre, Istanbul, 3 Dec. 2013.

39. Ibid.

40. For instance, Turkish NGOs have built four hospitals and eight health centres in addition to refurbishing two hospitals in Somalia. Doctors Worldwide built a hospital in Congo, a hospital in Somalia in collaboration with Medical Park, the Turkish Red Crescent, TIKA, the Benadeer Hospital and International Medical Corps. Kimse Yok Mu built a number of residential compounds in Haiti, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya that consist of houses, hospital, schools and parks, among others. Beşir Foundation has carried out similar projects, such as building a compound in Mogadishu consisting of a school, an orphanage and a mosque. The foundation also built an orphanage in Aceh, Indonesia. Helping Hands Foundation also built 11 compounds in Bangladesh, a modern village in Pakistan in collaboration with TIKA, a gynaecological hospital in Somalia and an orphanage in Sudan where children from conflicting clans are encouraged to study together to promote peace.

41. Hasene Foundation drills water wells in 12 countries, most of which are in Africa. See Hasane Foundation Introductory Guide, p.16. IHH has drilled water wells in 19 countries in regions including Africa, Central Asia and the Far East.

42. See AECOM, ‘İnşaat Sektörü Analizi, 2013, ‘ün Mirası: Belirsizlik ve Kaygılar ile Siyaset ve Ekonomide Yeni Bir Döneme Girerken: Dünya – Türkiye İnşaat Sektörü’, Asia Construction Outlook 2013, 2014 (at: www.aecom.com/deployedfiles/Internet/Geographies/Asia/Asia%20News/Asia%20Construction%20Outlook_2013%20_%20final2%20_%20small.pdf).

43. Ibid., pp.18–19.

44. Among the NGOs that deliver educational aid are the Nile Foundation, Doctors Worldwide, Kimse Yok Mu, IHH, Cansuyu Foundation, DÜNYEV, Deniz Feneri Foundation, Beşir Foundation, Helping Hands and Hasene Foundation.

45. For instance, in Somalia alone, Turkish NGOs have built 11 educational buildings and provided more than 1,000 scholarships for Somali students to study in Turkey and Somalia.

46. The comments were made by anonymous participant from Diyanet Foundation at the meeting on the Role of NGOs in Turkey's Peacebuilding, Istanbul Policy Centre, Istanbul, 3 Dec. 2013.

47. Şahin (see n.30 above).

48. Karaman (see n.38 above).

49. Ibid.

50. Ibid.

51. ‘Hasane Foundation Introductory Guide’, p.15.

52. ‘IHH Introductory Guide’, p.19.

53. ‘Syrian Rebels Free Iranian Hostages in Swap', AlJazeera, 9 Jan. 2013 (at: www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/01/201319102949949456.html); ‘Humanitarian Diplomacy in Syria’, IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation (at: www.ihh.org.tr/en/main/pages/humanitarian-diplomacy-in-syria/314).

54. Karaman (see n.38 above).

55. The comments were made by Ali Karayılan, General Director of Deniz Feneri Foundation, at the meeting on the Role of NGOs in Turkey's Peacebuilding, Istanbul Policy Centre, Istanbul, 3 Dec. 2013.

56. Şahin (see n.30 above).

57. The comments were made by Sadık Danışman, Helping Hands Foundation, at the meeting on the Role of NGOs in Turkey's Peacebuilding, Istanbul Policy Centre, Istanbul, 3 Dec. 2013.

58. Şahin (see n.30 above).

59. Ibid.

60. Kimse Yok Mu also delivers aid during Ramadan in 60 countries and during Eid-al-Adha in 75 countries; Hasene Foundation delivers aid during Eid-al-Adha in 76 countries; Cansuyu Foundation in 40 countries; Diyanet Foundation in 55 countries; Helping Hands in 17 countries and IHH in 114 countries and regions. This information is based on the meeting on the Role of NGOs in Turkey's Peacebuilding, Istanbul Policy Centre, Istanbul, 3 Dec. 2013.

61. Karaman (see n.38 above).

62. The comments were made by Mesud Gülbahar, Director of Hasene Foundation, at the meeting on the Role of NGOs in Turkey’s Peacebuilding, Istanbul Policy Centre, Istanbul, 3 Dec. 2013.

63. Ibid.

64. Karaman (see n.38 above).

65. Ibid.

66. Şahin (see n.30 above).

67. Ibid.

68. Karayılan (see n.55 above).

69. The comments made by Suat Pamukçu, Deputy Executive Director of Cansuyu Foundation, at the meeting on the Role of NGOs in Turkey's Peacebuilding, Istanbul Policy Centre, Istanbul, 3 Dec. 2013.

70. Şahin (see n.30 above).

71. Pamukçu (see n.69 above).

72. The comments made by Cihangir İşbilir, General Coordinator at the Union of NGOs of the Islamic World (UNIW), at the meeting on the Role of NGOs in Turkey's Peacebuilding, Istanbul Policy Centre, Istanbul, 3 Dec. 2013.

73. Ibid.

74. Pamukçu (see n.69 above) notes, ‘For example, we do not have the opportunity to reach out to the camps in Syria. So we deliver aid to Syria through the Turkish Red Crescent. Similarly, it is easier for us [HNGOs] to enter zones that Turkey [official track] faces difficulties. We have to cooperate with other institutions’, at the meeting on the Role of NGOs in Turkey's Peacebuilding, Istanbul Policy Centre, Istanbul, 3 Dec. 2013.

75. Ibid.

76. Danışman (see n.57 above).

77. Koçak (see n.33 above).

78. The comments were made by the representative of Beşir Foundation at the meeting on the Role of NGOs in Turkey's Peacebuilding, Istanbul Policy Centre, Istanbul, 3 Dec. 2013.

79. Wafula Okumu, ‘Humanitarian International NGOs and African Conflicts’, International Peacekeeping, Vol.10, No.1, 2010, p.131.