Turkish civil society, normative power Europe, and appeals to restore the EU’s transformative power

Abstract

This paper examines the evolving role of civil society in sustaining the European Union’s (EU) normative influence amid the Union’s diminishing capacity to drive change in the European periphery, with a particular focus on Türkiye. As the EU’s transformative agendas wane and its credibility as a normative power erodes, EU-engaged civil society actors in peripheral states seek alternative strategies to uphold the Union as a normative anchor. Drawing on in-depth interviews with high-level representatives and senior experts from prominent EU-engaged Turkish civil society organizations, the study demonstrates that civil society bridges the concerns of local norm advocates in both norm-making and norm-receiving contexts. It also actively contributes to the mutual socialization of the EU and candidate countries in efforts to restore the EU’s normative influence. The findings reaffirm the relevance of civil society within the Normative Power Europe (NPE) framework and highlight its stakeholder role in sustaining and diffusing EU norms.