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Ç ok F.; Bozkurt Ş .; Ş ener T.

Ç ok F.; Bozkurt Ş .; Ş ener T. Mapping the Varieties of Perspectives on Civic and Political Participation of Youth, Women and Minorities/Immigrants in Turkey.

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Ç ok F.; Bozkurt Ş .; Ş ener T.

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  1. Çok F.; Bozkurt Ş.; ŞenerT. Mapping the Varieties of Perspectives on Civic and Political Participation of Youth, Women and Minorities/Immigrants in Turkey Paper presented at the Surrey PIDOP Conference on “Political and Civic Participation”, April 16th-17th, 2012, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK

  2. The aim of this paper is to map discourses on civic and political participation in Turkey in relation to women, youth and minority/immigrant groups. Dominantparadigms embodied in the perspectives of public authorities and NGOs, and the counter arguments andrecentpublicagenda/mediacoveragearetriedto be underlined. General frameworkandoverview

  3. This analysis is based on an examination of the policy documents/reports produced between 2004 and 2011 by the public institutions and NGOs working in the fields of youth, women and minorities/migrants in Turkey. In total 34 documentswerereviewed, the distributions are shown in Table.1, are incorporated in the study. General frameworkandoverview

  4. Main Focus of Documents (Governmental) • Protection of thefamilyunity, socialsolidarity, struggleagainstpovertyandsocialexclusion • Human rights, genderequality • Prevention of domesticviolence • Prevention of honourkillings Representation of Womenissues in thedocuments

  5. Legal improvements in juridicalprocedures in favour of victimwomen. • Publicinstitutionsconcernwithwomenmainlyiftheyarevictims. • Restrictedparticipation of women in theparliamentandthegovernment (higherrepresentation of women in the main opponentparty, new %30 quota? in implementation, thereareproblems.) agenda of publicinstitutionsandmedia on women

  6. Existence of a fewinfluentialwomenparliamentariansrecently in theparliament • Moremediacoverage of victimwomen (domesticviolence, womenmurders, sexualharressment/abuse) • Moremediacoverage of successfulwomen (successes of keywomenfigures)

  7. Increase in numberandrepresentation in thepublic NGOshavecontributedtothepoliticization of formerlydomestic/privateissuessuch as sexualharressmentandviolenceagaintwomen NGOshavebeenincreasinglyinterested in women’sconventionalforms of participation (such as theirmorerepresentation in theparliament, encouragementforvoting) NGOshaveincreasinglystressedtheprevention ofdiscrimination against women in the educational and economic spheres agenda of Civilsocietyorganisations/NGOS on women

  8. Hugepopulationandyouthpopulation (about 11-12 million) Representation of youthissues in thedocuments

  9. Youthunemployment HugeYouthUnemployment (app. %20-25)

  10. Youngwomenandunemployment Unregistered/informalemploymentandlack of socialsecurity Mismatch of trainingandwork life Compulsorymilitary service Youthunemploymentandrelatedproblems

  11. Lack of a comprehensiveyouthpolicy • despitetheexistence of hugeyouthpopulationandthe presense of a MinistryforSports andYouth • Lackof a policyconcerningyouthparticipation • Lack of policies/priorities/practicesconcerningdifferentyouthcategoriessuch as ethnicandculturalgroups, sexualorientationanddisabledyouth Representation of youthissues in theGovernmentaldocuments

  12. Discourses on youth which tend to polarise them in relation to their religious identities Prime Minister’s declaration of government’s aim to raise a ‘conservative/religious youth Implicit prioritization of religion in educational system (assignment of religiousteachers as schoolprinciples, compulsoryreligioncourses) agenda of publicinstitutions on youth

  13. Manymoreyoungpeople in thehighereducation in spite of lowquality of educationalinstitutions Promotion of distanceeducation Establishement of moreyouthcentresandsportfacilities Morebudgetforyouthsportcompetitionsandsportstraining agenda of publicinstitutions on youthregardingeducation

  14. Discouragement (evenbanning) of activeforms of civicandpoliticalparticipationduetoprotectiveparentalattitudesandpoliticalpolarizationamongtheyouth in therecentpast, 1960, 1971, 1980 militaryinterventionscontributedtotheavoidance of beingveryactive. Agenda of parentsandschoolsforyouthparticipation

  15. UN-relatedorganisationsattemptforpromotingsexualhealth of differentyouthcategoriesincludingyouth in educationandout of educationyouth. Publiccampaignsforincreasingschooling of girlsespeciallyfromdisadvantedbackgrounds Slightincrease in thenumbers of youthorganizationsandactivitiespromotingespeciallycivicengagement of youngindividuals agenda of Civilsocietyorganisations/NGOs on youth

  16. The conception of ‘minority’ in Turkey implies differences from most of the European countries. According to the Turkish Constitution, the concept of citizenship does not include any reference to one’s ethnic and/or religious identity. It is estimatedthatthereareabout 50 differentethnicgroups in thecurrentnation of Turkey. Legallyall citizens without reference to their ethnic or religious backgrounds have equal rights and obligations. Since the foundation of the Turkish Republic, the only protection for minorities has been that set out in the 1923 with the Treaty of Lausanne. In the Treaty only the non-Muslim populations are defined as minorities (Minority Rights Group International, 2007). Representation of minority/immigrantissuesin thedocuments

  17. Intheprocess of creation of a nationstateideologyby Atatürk on thebasis of singlenationalidentity had beenemphasized. Representation of minority/immigrantissues in thedocuments

  18. Theconception of immigration has quitedifferentmeanings in Turkeystemmingfromrichculturalheritage, consisting of a variety of culturalpopulationsandtransitionfromOttomanEmpiretoTurkishRepublic Most of theTurkishcitizenshave trans-generationalimmigrationstory Immigrants in Turkeyare not visible as theyare in Europe andthey do not have a strongimmigrationidentityexceptfromrecentimmigrantsfromMiddleEasternandEuropeancountries. High ratios of illegal immigrationtoTurkeyrecently Representation of minority/immigrantissues

  19. Lack of a comprehensivestrategyforminority/immigrantissues. Lack of registered data on ethnicminoritiesandimmigrants. Theprojectteamchooseworkingwith Roma andBulgarianresettlers as minoritygroupswhichhavedifferentcharacteristicsandproblems in theparticipationprocesses. Representation of minority/immigrantissues in theGovernmentaldocuments

  20. Slightcoverage of promotion of life standards of Roma people Recentprojects of NGOsfortheimrovement of livingconditions of Bulgarianresettlers Focus on Kurdishissuemorethanbeforeandmorethanotherethnicandculturalpopulations. IfKurdishpeopleareminority is a controversialissueduetotheirhighratio. Alevi issue has beencentral in terms of religiousminorityforyears but theystillhaveproblems in relationtotheirreligiousrights agenda of publicinstitutionsandNGOson minoritiesandimmigrants

  21. Limited number of availabledocumentsregardingpoliciesforyouth, womenandminorities/immigrants. Slightincrease of attentionandpromotion of participation of women in civilandpolitical life Despitehugeyouthpopulationandtheexistance of a MinistryforYouthand Sports, there is almostnolongtermpoliciesandstrategiesforyouthparticipation Almostnocomprehensivepoliciesforminorities/immigrants General Conclusion

  22. The PIDOP project is supported by a grant received from the European Commission 7th Framework Programme, FP7- SSH-2007-1, Grant Agreement no: 225282, Processes Influencing Democratic Ownership and Participation (PIDOP) awarded to the University of Surrey (UK), University of Liège (Belgium), Masaryk University (Czech Republic), University of Jena (Germany), University of Bologna (Italy), University of Porto (Portugal), Örebro University (Sweden), Ankara University (Turkey) and Queen’s University Belfast (UK)

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