The European Charter of Local Authorities and Türkiye in the Internationalization Process

The European Charter of Local Authorities is an important international document adopted by the Council of Europe in 1985 with the aim of protecting the democratic and independent structure of local authorities and guaranteeing the autonomy of local authorities. This condition enables local governments to make independent decisions within their own areas of authority and responsibility, to encourage public participation in local government processes, and to have control over financial resources. Thus, local governments are no longer an extension of the central government but are becoming a structure that is closer to the public and more accountable. Türkiye, which ratified the European Charter of Local Self-Government in 1991, has tried to implement administrative reforms to strengthen the local government system. Increasing the authority and responsibilities of local governments, improving financial autonomy, and increasing citizen participation have become priority issues in the restructuring of local governments in Türkiye. However, Türkiye's reservations on some articles while accepting the charter show that it has not been able to fully implement the autonomy of local governments. For example, articles 4 and 9 of the charter limit the determination of the duties and authorities of local governments by the central government and support financial autonomy. However, the influence of the central government on local governments in Türkiye is still quite high, and the distribution of financial resources is under the control of the central authority. This is one of the most important factors limiting the autonomy of local governments. In terms of the internationalization process, Türkiye’s adoption of the European Charter of Local Self-Government has been an important step towards the country’s compliance with international democratic norms and standards. This process is also closely related to Türkiye’s European Union membership goals. This process is also closely related to Türkiye’s European Union membership goals. Türkiye aims to accelerate the harmonization process with the European Union through local government reforms and to develop the understanding of local democracy in the international arena. Türkiye’s full compliance with the principles of autonomy and participatory democracy in local governments will enable it to act in accordance with the spirit of the European Charter of Local Self-Government and to move further in the democratization process in the international arena. In this context, this study aims to examine Türkiye's internationalization process within the framework of the European Charter of Local Authorities. The contribution of the Charter to the Turkish local government system was evaluated using the literature review method.