"Siviliz" issue: 15

Hello everyone,

How are you? We hope that you are well and healthy.

We share the Siviliz e-bulletin with you biweekly, to inform you about CSOs and?also?our civil society agenda

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The story of what civil society organizations have achieved in these days when the civil space in Turkey is shrinking and the struggle for human rights is facing many difficulties is described in the book titled "Because We Care". Written by journalist G?k?er Tahincio?lu, the book tells success stories from different areas of rights in the language of witnesses.

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While the climate crisis has become one of the concrete, current and dominant issues in the field of human rights, legal approaches to address the crisis have increased. Just as the individual application has become part of domestic law in Turkey, the Constitutional complaint has also become an important tool for those facing rights violations to improve the scope of rights. The paper titled "The Importance of Individual Application in Advancing Rights and the Right to Environment," written by Deniz Polat Akgun, examines the Constitutional Court's view of the right to environment and introduces a new approach to the issue with its critique of the fundamental right to life.

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The Presidential Circular on the preparation of the Twelfth Development Plan for the period 2024-2028 has been?published. As part of the preparations for the Twelfth Development Plan, it is planned to bring together the representatives of the public sector, private sector, civil society and academic circles under the coordination of the Strategy and Budget Department.

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The General Directorate for Civil Society Relations of the Ministry of Interior has published the?Civil Society Strategy Document and the Draft Action Plan?defining short, medium and long-term strategies in the field of civil society to receive opinions and proposals.

In this section of the newsletter you will find news from us.

?From September 30th to October 1st this year, at the Civil Voices Festival in Ankara, we will meet those who believe that a better world is possible, who dream of change, who set out together to make a difference, and civil society organizations from all over Turkey.

At the?Civil Voices Festival, which we are hosting for the fifth time this year, we will come together under the theme Civil Society is You: Participation, Wellbeing, Aesthetic #inyourvoice! The two-day festival will feature panel discussions on civil society issues with guests from Turkey and abroad, workshops organized by CSOs, events, various exhibitions and stage performances.

We invite CSOs to our festival to share what has changed as a result of their work, so that their voices can be heard by more people and they can present their work. The registration form for the festival can be found?here.

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The application process for the BIRLIKTE Support Program, which we developed based on our years of experience and knowledge of strengthening civil society in Turkey, ended on Wednesday evening. We will share the results with you in December. Thank you to everyone who showed interest in the program.

That's all the news from us for now,

We will see you again in two weeks.