"Corruption is an issue for which civil society should feel responsible and exercise power, holding the political circles and state accountable," stated Dr. Can Paker, chairman of the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV). Corruption in the political and bureaucratic circles of Turkey is a well-known problem, and was brought to the spotlight last November when several banks were taken over by the government after going bankrupt. The corruption crisis continues, and TESEV is working to address and combat this issue through an extensive household survey and the development of a civil society coalition. Their work is supported by a CIPE grant, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy.
Survey
Late last year, TESEV began their project with a survey, in cooperation with the Interior Ministry, interviewing 3,000 households throughout the country. The survey confirmed how widespread corruption is in Turkey and the lack of confidence Turkish citizens have in their government. When asked to rate their trust of certain institutions, respondents gave political parties the lowest score: only a 2.1 out of a possible 10 (10 meaning they trust them completely). Newspapers, local governments and the central government also received low scores of 4.4 and lower. Question after question revealed that the customs office, tax office, traffic police, and municipalities are perceived as being the most corrupt and untrustworthy.
In an interview with the Yeni Safak Daily, published March 12, 2001, Dr. Paker says that the survey reveals "that Ôthings do not work' in Turkey." He referred to the statistic that 50% of the population is willing to pay a bribe if they need to. Despite these figures, Dr. Paker believes, "The people are basically very much against corruption. They go along with it to get their business done, but they definitely don't want it to continue."
Civil Society
In an effort to help make things work in Turkey, TESEV is developing a civil society coalition to monitor corruption. The Civil Society Platform for Monitoring Corruption will consist of several NGOs; how they will work in the months ahead is currently being determined by an Advisory Board. Dr. Paker says, "Corruption is an issue which has the potential to transform the concept of civil society in Turkey. Through the mobilization of NGOs, the perception of civil society in Turkey will change, and the numerous scattered NGOs will unite into a qualitatively different civil society, ready to focus on other issues Turkey needs to deal with to fully integrate into the values and implement the standards of the western world."
The complete survey results of TESEV's study are available on their Web site at www.tesev.org.tr.