The approach of non-governmental organizations towards Turkey?s European Union policy within the framework of civil society-foreign policy relations

As a vital element of democratization, civil society is one of the most debated notions during Turkey?s EU membership process. With the official opening of membership negotiations with the EU on 3 October 2005, Turkey embarked upon a new era. In this new period, civil society organizations such as associations, foundations and chambers have significantly contributed to a plethora of processes including democratization of the political regime, transparency of decision making, membership processes and representation of opinions of segments of society under a legislative framework.It is in this context that this thesis analyzes the discourses and policies of Turkey?s NGOs in towards the EU policies of Turkey from the perspective of the relationship between civil society and foreign policy. First section studies theories that shed light on civil society-foreign policy nexus. That is, the thesis provides a brief survey of those theories of IR, which strive to explain the relationship between civil society and foreign policy. Hence, assumptions of neoliberal theory on foreign policy, which put forward sub-societal actors, are scrutinized. Because sub-social actors will not be sufficient, then neoliberal institutionalism which puts forward upper actors, is presented. In order to study how these two levels and kinds of actors are socially constructed, a special kind of constructivist approach is introduced. After these theoretical frameworks, civil society discourses and policies in particular fields of Turkish foreign policy (Cyprus, Relations with Armenia, Palestine Problem) are analyzed. Third section of the thesis analyses the field work. The attitudes of civil society and NGOs towards the EU policies are analyzed by using qualitative methods of data collection. In addition to press releases, public speeches, institutional leaflets, publications and other related official documents, the thesis makes extensive uses of the semi-structured interviews conducted with nine representatives of Turkey?s most salient civil society institutions, which are The Confederation of Justice Seekers? Trade Unions (Hak-İş), The Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (Türk-İş), Turkish Industrialists? and Businessmen?s Association (TÜSİAD), The Independent Industrialists? and Businessmen?s Association (MÜSİAD), The Union of Turkish Chambers and Stock Exchanges (TOBB), The Turkish Employer?s Confederation (TİSK), Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV), Economic Development Foundation (İKV) and Association of Kemalist Thought (ADD) . The thesis puts into focus not only the viewpoints of these civil society institutions pertaining to Turkey?s relations with the EU, but also their expectations from the future EU membership. In the final section, data and analyses gleaned from the field work are compared and contrasted with the findings and projections of the existing theories. The thesis demonstrates that Turkey?s civil society is taking part in the membership process . However, they have not yet sufficiently been effective in the decision making process pertaining to the membership process and related initiatives. One of the reasons for such a lack is that democracy in Turkey has not been fairly institutionalized and that the capacity of civil society to affect foreign policy is not adequate for an effective participation into the political processes. One of the conclusions of this study is that the EU membership process can provide a solution for such problems.