Assessment of the role non-governmental organizations operating in the environmental field in Turkey as a means of pressure in the creation of environmental policies

With the increase in the level of awareness, the importance of individuals' active role in decision-making processes has gradually increased in today's societies. The difficulty of individuals reacting individually to the practices ,they are negatively affected by, has pushed individuals to be organized by forming a public opinion. The most effective way of organized response is Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) that are nonstate organizations and they have become the voice of polyphony and democracy in situations where the state is inadequate or against practices that are not in the interest of society. Environmentalist NGOs, which are the stakeholders of public policies especially with the politicization process of the environment, draw attention as effective activists in forming public opinion in the face of increasing environmental problems, keeping environmental problems on the agenda, and with activities such as protests, lobbying. When evaluated from this perspective, as in the global world, environmental issues frequently raised in various ways in Turkey, efficiency level and the role of environmental NGOs to address the issues such as prevention of environment and protection of environmental degradation, conservation and sustainable use of natural resources and environmental values and is the starting point. How environmentalist NGOs play a role in environmental protection regulations or political processes, whether they have a dominant and effective role in the implementation of environmental policies, whether they serve as a pressure tool in political processes have been the main discussion topics of this study. 9 different environmental NGOs were identified for the study on the impact of environmental NGOs on environmental policies. Information acquisition was provided through the web pages of designated NGOs, the reports they published and the information request form sent to personally designated NGOs, and the breakdown of the information obtained was converted into raw data to be used in qualitative analysis in a computer environment. MAXQDA qualitative data analysis program was used for data analysis. When evaluated with the results of this study, the role in regulation, the implementation and the formation of environmental NGOs in Turkey, as a pressure tool of environmental policy, is quite limited and varies according to the surrounding area. The most determining factors in the effectiveness of environmentalist NGOs are the cooperation and financial resources between NGO and government institutions. The fact that approximately 43% of environmentalist NGOs are financially dependent on the state shows that environmental NGOs cannot act independently from the state and are not fully independent in the political field. They are not sufficiently effective on environmental issues, as they are not financially independent and a large part of their income depends on project collaborations with public institutions.For this reason, it cannot be said to be a complete pressure tool. In addition, the fact that NGO members are not enough activists also negatively affects this process. Sociocultural and socioeconomic factors are important negative factors both in the structuring of NGOs and on their financial resources.