The role of Non-Governmental Organizations in Turkey in the accession process to the European Union

Abstract: Civil Society and the EU membership are one of the subjects discussed by political and intellectual groups in Turkey. In today’s Turkey, where significant steps are being taken in the process of accession to the Eu-ropean Union, the importance of the effects of non-governmental organiza-tions on Turkey’s democratization is enormous. European Union attributes great significance to civic society and non-governmental organizations in the development of participatory democracy in Turkey. It is known that Euro-pean Union demonstrates its enthusiasm in this regard through funding or other support mechanisms. In this study, Turkey’s experiments in the process of democratization and the roles the non-governmental organizations have played in this process will be investigated. On the other hand, what roles non-governmental organizations have assumed in order to establish partici-patory democracy, the projects such institutions have implemented and the support the European Union has given in this regard will be studied