The role and impact of non-governmental organizations in local politics: A field research in the case of Batman province (2019-2024)

Non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs) in Turkeyhave a critical role in thedevelopment of democracyandincreasingsocialparticipation. However, in recentyears, especially at thelocallevel, therelations of NGOswithpoliticalpartiesandtheirroles in electionprocesseshavebeenthesubject of debate. Thisstudyaimstoexaminethe role of NGOs in localpolitics, theireffectsandtheirrelationswithpoliticalparties in Batman province, andalsoexaminesthe role of non-governmentalorganizations in localelections in Batman provinceandanalyzestherelations of theseorganizationswithpoliticalparties. Itaimstoevaluatetheirsituationandtheircooperationwithpoliticalparties. Thisresearch is important in terms of understandingthe role of non-governmentalorganizations in politicalprocesses in Turkey. Itwillprovidevaluableinformationaboutthefunctioning of democraticprocesses, especiallybyexaminingtherelations of NGOswithpoliticalparties at thelocallevel. Inaddition, it willcontributetothe re-evaluation of thesocialroles of theseorganizationsbyidentifyingsituationswhereNGOsdeviatefromtheirprimaryduties. Thisresearch, whichcovers Batman provincespecifically, will be one of thelimitednumber of studiesexaminingthecivilsociety-politicsrelationship at thelocallevel in Turkeyandwillprovideimportant data in terms of understandingthecivilsocietydynamics in thesoutheastregion of Turkey.