Özet:

The insufficiency of the “lobbying activities” addressed to improving Turkey’s generally negative image in the public opinion of European Union countries is one of the issues increasingly gaining importance in Turkey – European Union (EU) relations. The correction of this negative image, which has continued for centuries due to historical reasons to the present day, requires continuous and varying lobbying activities. Development of the “civil society dialogue” particularly with the European countries is of great importance for Turkey’s EU membership perspective. On this account, “non-governmental organizations” (NGOs) play a significant role in terms of ensuring communication with the European public opinion. However, there are major differences between the EU and Turkey in terms of the levels of development of NGOs. The main reason for this is the fact that the NGOs in Turkey remain behind the most, if not all, of the ones in European countries as a result of democratic understanding. This lack of communication is clearly visible today, in an era that Turkey-EU accession negotiations have stalled. A variety of projects have been suggested in response to the question of what can be done about this. These recommendations are prepared using the experiences of other countries and thus include general similarities. However, among them, though not very often, there are different projects addressed to the assessment of the potential power of the “Turkish society” living in various European countries, especially in Germany. This paper, so as to contribute to the literature, examines the role of the Turkish society in Germany -particularly the second and third generations due to their different positions- in the establishment of effective and permanent communication between Turkey and European Union public opinions. 

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