European Union Civil Society Policy and Turkey: A Bridge Too Far? - Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics (Hardback)

"Civil society is widely employed in the literature on democratization as well as in studies on the European Union's efforts to promote democracy. Strong empirical work, however, is often lacking. Özge Zihnioglu's work fills this gap in the important case of Turkey, assessing the efforts of the EU to develop and implement a 'civil society policy.' This work makes an important contribution to the growing body of work on Turkey and its efforts to meet the requirements to join the EU." Paul Kubicek, Department of Political Science, Oakland University, USA 'Part of the complexity of Turkey-EU relations lies in the fact that government-to-government ties are but one dimension of this multifaceted relationship. Beyond official Brussels-Ankara ties, the EU has made engagement with civil society a cornerstone of its policy. In this book, Özge Zihnioglu meticulously explains how the EU has influenced Turkey's civil society scene, contributing to the empowerment of the third sector and thus to the overall democratization of the country.' Nathalie Tocci, Europe and the Neighbourhood, Istituto Affari Internazionale, Italy