Environmental Movements in Turkey: Activists' Experiences, Political Dynamics, and Societal Impacts

Environmental movements in Turkey have gained traction in recent years, yet their capacity to drive sustainable change at a national level remains limited. This study investigates the factors influencing the scope, efficacy, and socio-political impacts of these movements through the lens of activists' lived experiences and new social movement theories. Grounded in a qualitative approach, data was collected via semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 30 environmental activists representing various organizations across Turkey.

The findings reveal the movements' social base spans upper classes, middle classes, retirees, housewives involved in globally or nationally active environmental organizations. Mostly rural local struggles also engage peasants. The movements' objectives range from supporting community-based resistance against energy/mining projects and legal battles to awareness-raising and influencing policies through education and civil society initiatives. In terms of approach to environmental issues, activists include those with ideological concerns, those with strategic concerns, minimalists aiming for individual changes, proponents of sustainable development, advocates of deep ecology, eco-feminists. Environmentalist discourses range from liberal to socialist tendencies, with a common emphasis on consciousness-building; their oppositional stances diverge, variably opposing capitalism, the government, corporations, or consumerism – with anti-government sentiment being most prominent.

Although achieving localized successes and institutional inroads, the movements' social acceptance and national-scale impact remain constrained by a lack of consensus on demands, an exclusionary language and organization unable to represent the lower classes, dissident political orientations, and controversies surrounding proposed anti-development solutions. Enhancing the Turkey's environmental movements' transformative potential hinges on developing an inclusive discourse capable of broadening its social base and articulating diverse demands under a unifying framework.