TYEC: Project on Ethics for the Prevention of Corruption in Turkey

 
The project on "Ethics for the Prevention of Corruption in Turkey" (TYEC) term is 24 months (1 December 2007-30 November 2009). The project is funded by the European Union (90%) and by the Council of Europe (10%). It is implemented by the Council of Europe’s Directorate of Co-operation (Economic Crime Division). The project’s main counterpart institution is the Council of Ethics for Public Service at the Prime Ministry of Turkey.
 
In recent years, the Turkish Government has taken a number of important steps in combating corruption. The country ratified the Council of Europe’s Civil and Criminal Law Conventions against Corruption in 2003 and 2004 respectively and joined the Council’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) in January 2004. Moreover, in June 2004 the Council of Ethics for the Public Service was established and in 2005 the Regulation on the Principles of Ethical Behaviour for Public Officials (the Code of Ethics) was adopted.

Despite these steps, corruption remains a serious concern for the people of Turkey. The Turkish authorities acknowledge that corruption is a priority issue requiring comprehensive and serious counter-measures. The project will assist Turkey with their efforts in preventing corruption by supporting the implementation of specific measures, and provide support to other related reforms.

The TYEC project has four main aims:

1. Support the implementation of the Code of Ethics across the public administration in line with GRECO recommendations;

2. Develop codes of ethics for other categories of officials or holders of public office;

3. Develop systems of monitoring the effectiveness of prevention and other anti-corruption measures; and

4. Ensure and enhance coordination of anti-corruption measures.

Recent Activities

Ethics Training Programme

[14 October 2008, Strasbourg] The first ethics training activity of TYEC will take place in a Turkish public sector training company, TUSSIDE (Turkish Institute for International Management) during 19-24 October 2008. 25 trainers candidates from central government ministries and various public bodies have been selected to participate in the programme. The programme involves the completion and publication of the training package, the training of the selected trainers on how to train and the use of the training package. The training programme will be supervised by a Turkish and International Short Term Expert and will involve a pilot exercise. The training is intended to:

1. Support the Council of Ethics Training Programme for senior national, regional and local public officials between November 2008 and October 2009;

2. Encourage the trainers to work with the ethics commissions in their respective ministries to set up a training strategy:

3. Assist the Council of Ethics to deliver a national training programme.

1st TYEC Steering Committee Meeting

[29 September 2008, Strasbourg] The 1st Project Steering Committee Meeting took place in Ankara on 23 June 2008. As a result, the Project Workplan was slightly up-dated and adapted to the current needs and priorities.  The meeting brought together representatives of the Council of Ethics for Public Service (the main counterpart institution), the Ministries, the European Commission Delegation to Turkey and the Council of Europe.        

TYEC Study Visit: Members of the Council of Ethics visited partner institutions in Dublin

[29 September 2008, Strasbourg] Within the framework of the TYEC project a study visit took place between 9 and 13 June 2008 with the participation of the members of the Council of Ethics, the TYEC Long Term Advisor and the Secretariat of the Council of Europe. The aim of the study visit was to exchange view and experience with the similar institutions in order to review and increase the working procedures of the Council of Ethics. In this respect, the project had already identified four EU Institutions: the Audit Commission, the UK Commission on Standards in Public Life, the Standards Board for England, and the Irish Government's Standards in Public Office Commission. During the course of the study, the Council of Ethics was offered perspectives from these institutions, including:
- Strategic management and performance criteria; areas of responsibilities: public officials, elected members at local and national level; complaints procedures and right of investigation; allocation of cases to other bodies; independent budgets; publicity and awareness campaigns/websites; range of sanctions.

Link to Agenda  
Link to the Note on the visit
Link to Presentations

Conference on International Standards on the Principals of Ethics

[27 May 2008, Ankara, Turkey] The Council of Europe is organising within the framework of the TYEC project and in co-operation with the Ethics Council of Turkey, an international conference entitled “The International Standards on the Principles of Ethics” in Ankara, Turkey. The conference aims at comparing the practices of other homologue institutions and sharing good practices. It will focus on the Practical Value of Ethics Training, Infrastructure, Useful Tools in the United Nations system, and the adoption of the Ethics Framework in the European Union member States.

The conference event will start at 9.00 a.m. on Tuesday 27 May 2008 at the Iller Bankasi Premises in Ankara. The Press is invited to attend the opening session from 9.15 a.m. to 10.00 a.m.

Link to Agenda
Link to Presentations
Photo Gallery  

The Start-up Conference

[7 February 2008, Ankara, Turkey] The TYEC project Start-up Conference took place on 7 February 2008 at Hilton Hotel, Ankara. With over 100 attendees, and full media coverage, the Conference brought together high-level representatives of line Ministries, different groups of civil society, media, international organizations and Embassies. The purpose of the Start-up conference is to present the project, its objectives, outputs and have its workplan adopted. The Start-up Conference was addressed by the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; Prof. Dr Bilal Eryilmaz, Ethics Council Chairperson, Ms Margaret Killerby, Director of Co-operation, Council of Europe; and HE Amb. Marc Pierini, European Commission Delegation to Turkey. The workplan finalised during the Start-up workshops was adopted by all participants at the end of the Conference.

Link to Agenda
Link to Presentations  

The Start-up Workshops

[21-24 January 2008, Ankara, Turkey]
The TYEC project’s Start-up workshops took place on 21, 23 and 24 January 2008 and were attended by 50 participants each. The four workshops were aimed at :introducing the project, its objectives, and its proposed activities. The participants of workshops included the representatives of the four following  types of categories:

  -central and local institutions
 -civil society and media
 -academia
 -ethics commissions

The first workshop was opened and addressed by Mr. Hayati Yazıcı, Minister of State and Deputy Prime Minister. The workshops demonstrated not only a clear awareness of the issues and possible solutions across both public administration and society, but also identified networks and organisations keen to support the work along with the project. The discussions and proposals on the implementation aspect of the project were taken into account and incorporated into the Draft Workplan which will be submitted to the Start-Up Conference.

Link to Agenda

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to address the launching event of a new anti-corruption project in Turkey

[04 February 2008,Strasbourg] The Council of Europe is launching a new technical co-operation project entitled “Ethics for the Prevention of Corruption in Turkey” (TYEC). The two-year project will also help implement the recommendations made to Turkey by the Council’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO). The project is 90% funded by the European Commission and 10% by the Council of Europe. It will be implemented by the Council of Europe’s Economic Crime Division. (More...)

Link to the Project summary
Link to the Project summary in Turkish
The Agenda