Istanbul – ESI at event on civil society in Turkey

1 February 2019
The Küçük Kasrı Palace, a former summer residence of Ottoman sultans on the Bosphorus. Photo: ESI/Kristof Bender
The Küçük Kasrı Palace, a former summer residence of Ottoman sultans on the Bosphorus. Photo: ESI/Kristof Bender

On 1 February 2019 ESI's Kristof Bender attended a workshop on "Engaging civil societies in Turkey and the EU", organised in Istanbul by the Instituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), the Istanbul Policy Center (IPC) and the Stiftung Mercator. More than 40 participants discussed challenges for civil society in Turkey and explored which meaningful activities can be pursued in the current situation, marked by curtailed democratic freedoms and a standstill in Turkey's EU accession process.