ABSTRACT

Introduction Paralleling the international trend that began with the ‘third wave’ of democratization (Huntington, 1991), the study of democratic governance has taken the center stage in Turkey as well. Within this literature a significant emphasis has been put on the analysis of civil-military relations in Turkey. As a complementary area, the nature of state-society relations should also be examined in order to track the alterations in the balance of power between the state actors and civil society. The strong state tradition in Turkey has allowed restricted space for organized action (Toprak, 1995), and the 1982 constitution prevented the mobilization and organization of civil society (see e.g. Bayar, 1996; Kubicek, 2002). Over the years civil society organizations have re-emerged, but in a different form-NGOs or platforms, instead of formal political organizations-and emphasizing issues such as gender, human rights and the environment rather than class-based interests. The space available for mobilization and civil initiative has expanded as a result of these organizations and movements. Some of these movements have been linked to transnational networks and NGOs and have applied their pressure tactics in cooperation with them. This chapter examines transnational networks and their impact on three significant cases. Specifically, it investigates the impact of such networks on local movements, government policy and state-society relations in Turkey.