Organizations that are closely affiliated with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) government are receiving a substantial portion of the European Union’s grants and funds that are allocated for projects in Turkey, according to a recent report by the T24 news website. This encompasses notable foundations, including the Turkey Youth Foundation (TÜGVA), the Service for Youth and Education Foundation of Turkey (TÜRGEV), and the Foundation for Political, Economic, and Social Research (SETA).
Despite Turkey’s government’s frequent criticism of foreign-funded independent media and NGOs, these pro-government entities continue to receive financial support from the EU. Since 2020, over €700,000 in EU Erasmus funds have been secured by TÜGVA for 16 initiatives, with some projects receiving as much as €247,904. The Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) received a €45,870 grant from the EU’s Erasmus+ program through its Turkey Diyanet Foundation, despite the foundation’s reported 57-fold increase in revenue from 2022 to 2023.
In response to the controversy, the Turkish Foreign Ministry stated that the funds were awarded through a competitive process based on the EU’s project evaluation criteria, rather than as direct grants. The ministry emphasized that the selection process was in accordance with EU guidelines and encouraged the public to refrain from being misled by what it referred to as misleading reports.
The contradiction in the way pro-government organizations benefit from the same EU funds that Erdoğan’s administration has criticized when used by independent media and NGOs was emphasized by investigative journalist Metin Cihan, who brought attention to the issue. Turkey remains at the 158th position out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in terms of press freedom.
