ABSTRACT: The title of this thesis is “The Approach of NGOs and Civil Society Organizations to Turkish Membership to EU with a Reference to the Helsinki Process: Constructive or Critical”. The main question of this study is to place the role of NGOs in Turkish society and understanding their contribution to Turkey’s democratization process in the EU accession period, especially after the Helsinki Summit. For this end, the study attempts to answer questions like how Turkey can manage to be European, whether it has a sufficiently strong civil society, how a country that has suffered from a lack of civil actors participating in the democratic process could be accepted into the EU, and whether, and how, the country has changed since its application decades ago.
In analyzing the role of Turkish civil society, this thesis establishes a general historical framework of Turkey’s relations with the European Union. This goes as far back as the European effect on the democratization efforts of the Ottoman Empire and continues through the early days of the Republic of Turkey.
The study examines the role of Turkish NGOs in the country’s accession process into the EU, with reference to the Helsinki process of dialogue. The NGOs selected are TÜSİAD, MÜSİAD and İKV as three employer organizations; and TÜRK-İŞ, HAK-İŞ and DİSK as three worker confederations, which have been actively involved in Turkey’s membership to the EU. Choosing three organizations from each group aims at creating a fair balance between the employers and employees.
With the start of negotiations and the intensifying relations with the EU, civil society and pressure groups, such as İKV, TÜSİAD, MÜSİAD, TÜRK-İŞ, HAK-İŞ and DİSK increased public support throughout organizations relating to EU accession.
Words for Library Search: Turkey, European Union, Civil Societ
