The government’s symbiotic relations with interest groups and CSOS in Turkey: Pluralist or corporatist arrangements?

ABSTRACT

On June 2020, the Turkish government passed a bill to establish multiple bars in the three major cities, Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir, claiming to democratize bar associations. Opposition parties objected because they predicted that ‘splitting’ bar associations would divide secular institutions along political lines and diminish their role as human rights observers. This raises the question of whether a plurality of interest groups and civil society organizations fosters democracy. Based on previous experience of the government’s relationships with the business sector, trade unions, and civil society organizations, this study mainly asserts that although the number and impact of non-state actors has increased since the 2000s, suggesting pluralist politics, the AKP government has formed corporatist arrangements with ideologically close organizations, labelled as ‘domestic and national’, which also symbolizes a discursive switch from Islamism to populist Turkish nationalism. This symbiotic relationship creates a win-win situation for the government to gain regimented support for its Islamist-nationalist policies and retain power while the organizations benefit from greater access to economic and political resources.

KEYWORDS:

• Symbiotic relations
• multiple bar law
• Turkey
• trade unions
• GONGOs

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 ‘Bitaraf olan bertaraf olur’, Milliyet. Accessed 18 August 2020. https://www.milliyet.com.tr/siyaset/erdogan-bitaraf-olan-bertaraf-olur-1277904.

2 ‘Ünlülerden güçlü bir Türkiye için evet kampanyasına destek’, Anadolu Agency. Accessed 5 December 2020. https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/turkiye/unlulerden-guclu-bir-turkiye-icin-evet-kampanyasina-destek/737232.

3 Kemalism is the founding ideology of Turkey, developed by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of Turkey. The ideology takes a secularist, nationalist and pro-Western stance.

4 Membership numbers for MEMUR-SEN also significantly increased from 41,000 in 2002 to 1.013.920 in 2020. In our interview with Çerkezoğlu, Gezen and Bozgeyik, the government’s support for MEMUR-SEN was emphasized.

5 KADEM is a government-organized non-governmental organisation (GONGO). It is co-founded by President Erdoğan’s daughter, Sümeyye Erdoğan.

6 Interviews were previously planned with six major confederations but only three confederations positively replied to participate in this research. Interview with the leaders of HAK-İS and DİSK were held face-to-face in Ankara and Istanbul respectively; interviews with the co-leaders of KESK were organized via telephone and mail.

7 ‘Public tenders won by pro-government companies exceed Turkey's 2020 budget’, Bianet. Accessed 8 September 2020. https://bianet.org/english/print/230444-public-tenders-won-by-pro-government-companies-exceed-turkey-s-2020-budget.

8 ‘Private participation in infrastructure’, Featured Rankings, 1990–2019. https://ppi.worldbank.org/en/snapshots/rankings

9 The Turkish Contractors Association, 2015 Report, ‘Turkish Contracting in the International Market’, (TMB report, 2015) https://www.tmb.org.tr/doc/file/ydmh_ocak2015_eng.pdf

10 According to Pinto (2014), authoritarian corporatism refers to the set of institutions established by the state to legitimize its organic representation. Organized interests and elites are thereby co-opted and controlled in line with the state’s ideology. See Pinto, ‘Fascism, corporatism and the crafting of authoritarian institutions in inter-war European dictatorships’.

11 ‘Memur-Sen, Kamu-Sen ile KESK'i istemedi: Masada koltuk işgal etmesinler’ [Memur-Sen did not want Kamu-Sen and KESK: They should not occupy a seat at the table], T24. Accessed 11 February 2020. https://t24.com.tr/haber/memur-sen-kamu-sen-ile-keski-istemedi-masada-koltuk-isgal-etmesinler,761962.

12 The beginning date of the data is 2013 because official unionisation rates were misleading due to the failures on calculations between 1983 and 2012. In 2012, these miscalculations were eliminated by the government but renewed official data is available starting from 2013. See also Çelik ‘Sembiyotik İlişkiler ve Otoriter Korporatizm Kıskacında’.

13 ‘Başbakanın ‘Aşırı Sendikacı’ Dediği Arzu Çerkezoğlu konuştu’, Hürriyet. Accessed 4 November 2020. https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/basbakanin-asiri-sendikaci-dedigi- arzu-cerkezoglu-konustu-23510391.

14 Duran, ‘Milli ve Yerli Söyleminin İçini Kim Dolduracak?’ [‘Who Will Fill Its National and Indigenous Discourse?’] Sabah. Accessed 4 December 2020. https://www.sabah.com.tr/yazarlar/duran/2017/09/09/milli-ve-yerli-soyleminin-icini-kim-dolduracak.

15 ‘Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan Genel Kurulumuza Katıldı’. Accessed 5 December 2020. https://www.hakis.org.tr/haberler.php?action=haber_detay&id=2745.

16 ‘Erdoğan: ‘Kadın kadın ile koşar, erkek erkekle koşar’’, [Erdoğan: ‘Women runs with women, men runs with men’] Sözcü. Accessed 3 December 2020. https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2018/gundem/erdogan-kadin-ve-adalet-zirvesinde-2754881.

17 KADEM organizes annual international conferences called ‘gender justice’ that mainly focus on women and the family, and workplace empowerment of women.

18 ‘Erdoğan: ‘Kadın ve Erkeğin Eşit Olması Mümkün Değil’, [‘Erdoğan: ‘Women and Men Cannot Be Equal’]. Accessed 17 August 2021. https://www.haberturk.com/polemik/haber/537849-kadin-ve-erkegin-esit-olmasi-mumkun-degil.

19 ‘Association close to Erdoğan's family announces support for İstanbul Convention’. Accessed 10 November 2020. https://m.bianet.org/english/women/228422-association-close-to-erdogan-s-family-announces-support-for-istanbul-convention.

20 ‘Religious authority’s statement on LGBT sparks debate in Turkey’. Accessed 4 December 2020. https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/religious-authoritys-statement-on-lgbt-sparks-debate-in-turkey-154246.

21 ‘Çoklu Baro Düzenlemesi TBMM’den Geçti’, Voice of America. Accessed 4 December 2020. https://www.amerikaninsesi.com/a/coklu-baro-yasasi-tbmm-den-gecti-chp-aym-ye-basvuracak/5498772.html.

22 ‘Çoklu Baro Yasası TBMM’den geçti, CHP AYM’ye başvuracak’ [Multiple Bar Associations Law passed, CHP will apply to AYM] Voice of America, July 11, 2020. Accessed 4 November 2020. https://www.amerikaninsesi.com/a/coklu-baro-yasasi-tbmm-den-gecti-chp-aym-ye-basvuracak/5498772.html.

23 ‘Adli yıl açılış töreni kaldırıldı’. Accessed 4 November 2020. https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2014/gundem/adli-yil-acilis-toreni-kaldirildi-646174/.

24 ‘Lawyers make application for second bar association in Istanbul’, Bianet. Accessed 25 September 2020. https://bianet.org/5/147/231543-lawyers-make-application-for-second-bar-association-in-istanbul.

25 Yavuz (2018) analyses political tensions and clashes between the AKP and Gülen Movement in three phases, starting in 2010 (Mavi Marmara), wiretapping scandal in 2012, 17 December corruption events in 2013. For a detailed analysis, see Yavuz (2018).