Chapter 4
Environmental Administration
in Turkey
Süheyla Suzan Gökalp Alıca
Abstract Institutionalization efforts that started in 1978 in Turkey have been going
on for approximately forty years. Within this process, the budget, staff and
authorities of environmental public administration were left weak. It failed to show
the expected performance in any period and could not function effectively. Since
the initial period when the environmental organization was established as an
Undersecretariat, its conflict of authority with other public entities and institutions
has not ended and it has had to function in coordination with these institutions
which had all organized and completed their institutionalization prior to the environmental organization. The managerial problems are not only limited to conflicts
and the overlap of authorities, duties and responsibilities. Uncertainty and instability in environmental organization prevent the development of an effective
environmental administration system. Currently, the reorganization of environmental administration is still ongoing. Institutionalization is a significant problem in
Turkey, and improving environmental protection is not possible without solving
this problem.
Keywords Environmental administration Á Conflict of authority Á Institutional
structure and restructuring
4.1 Introduction
Since the late 1960s, many national and international documents have expressed the
urgent need to protect the environment. Legal arrangements designed to settle
environmental problems were formalized with the adoption of the 1982
Constitution and the Environmental Law (No. 2872). The scope of environmental
legislation has been greatly extended over the past ten years. The EU accession
process gave Turkey some responsibility for introducing a series of fundamental
reforms. One of the prerequisites of membership of the Union is the approximation
Dr. Süheyla Suzan Gökalp Alıca, Associate Professor of Environmental Law, Ankara Hacı
Bayram Veli University, Law Faculty, Ankara, Turkey. e-mail: salica2015@gmail.com.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Z. Savaşan and V. Sümer (eds.), Environmental Law and Policies in Turkey,
The Anthropocene: Politik—Economics—Society—Science 31,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36483-0_4
55
Environmental Administration
in Turkey
Süheyla Suzan Gökalp Alıca
Abstract Institutionalization efforts that started in 1978 in Turkey have been going
on for approximately forty years. Within this process, the budget, staff and
authorities of environmental public administration were left weak. It failed to show
the expected performance in any period and could not function effectively. Since
the initial period when the environmental organization was established as an
Undersecretariat, its conflict of authority with other public entities and institutions
has not ended and it has had to function in coordination with these institutions
which had all organized and completed their institutionalization prior to the environmental organization. The managerial problems are not only limited to conflicts
and the overlap of authorities, duties and responsibilities. Uncertainty and instability in environmental organization prevent the development of an effective
environmental administration system. Currently, the reorganization of environmental administration is still ongoing. Institutionalization is a significant problem in
Turkey, and improving environmental protection is not possible without solving
this problem.
Keywords Environmental administration Á Conflict of authority Á Institutional
structure and restructuring
4.1 Introduction
Since the late 1960s, many national and international documents have expressed the
urgent need to protect the environment. Legal arrangements designed to settle
environmental problems were formalized with the adoption of the 1982
Constitution and the Environmental Law (No. 2872). The scope of environmental
legislation has been greatly extended over the past ten years. The EU accession
process gave Turkey some responsibility for introducing a series of fundamental
reforms. One of the prerequisites of membership of the Union is the approximation
Dr. Süheyla Suzan Gökalp Alıca, Associate Professor of Environmental Law, Ankara Hacı
Bayram Veli University, Law Faculty, Ankara, Turkey. e-mail: salica2015@gmail.com.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Z. Savaşan and V. Sümer (eds.), Environmental Law and Policies in Turkey,
The Anthropocene: Politik—Economics—Society—Science 31,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36483-0_4
55