TUSEV - Türkiye Üçüncü Sektör Vakfı (Third Sector Foundation Turkey)

TUSEV was established in 1993 by Turkey\'s leading civil society organizations and has now grown to support network of over 100 associations and foundations that share a vision of strengthening the legal, fiscal and operations infrastructure of the third sector in Turkey. Among TUSEV\'s main objectives are non-profit law reform, research on civil society and philanthropy, promoting social investment and social injustice philanthropy, and facilitating partnerships across sectors, as well as across borders.
TUSEV played an active role in the catalyzing events for the development of civil society in Turkey at the turn of the millennium: It was the main organizer of the United Nations Habitat II Conference Foundations Forum in 1996 that rallied awareness around civil society; it was the facilitator of international financial support for earthquake relief after the catastrophic 1999 Marmara Earthquake that created significant demand on CSOs; and it was an advocate of EU accession reforms with regards to civil society. These developments mark important changes in the way Turkey frames the work of foundations and CSOs from an operational, legal and fiscal perspective. For the past 15 years, TUSEV has been a leader in improving civil society laws, generating research and policies for the sector\'s future, and encouraging dialogue and cooperation among private, public and third sector actors.