During the meeting, our Chairman Levent Korkut gave information about ‘Civil Society in Turkey in the EU Process: Freedom of Association and Right to Participate’ and our Project Coordinator Murat Özçelebi gave information about ‘Project Opportunities for Civil Society in the EU Process’. In his speech, Korkut stated that Turkey has a low rate of association compared to other developed countries and said:
‘In a normal participatory democratic system, there should be strong ties between civil society organisations and the state and the mutual relationship should be well established. Our main problem is here. Civil society's participation in decision-making mechanisms, its ability to influence these mechanisms, and public institutions, regardless of their level, should take into account and meet the demands of civil society in their decisions. This relationship should be very strong so that civil society has a stamp and influence on the decisions taken.’
Murat Özçelebi, STGM Project Coordinator, said in his speech that civil society organisations in Turkey have come a long way in the field of project development in the last 20 years, and that the opportunities provided by the European Union and international organisations for civil society projects have increased and that these opportunities have contributed greatly to the development of organisations.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)