“The overall objective of this call for proposals is to contribute to the development and strengthening of democracy and the rule of law, as well as respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms, through the support of human rights defenders,” the document says.
As European experts note, the project will help strengthen the capacity of human rights defenders in Turkey so that they can carry out their work, including monitoring and documenting violations, combating impunity and improving access to justice.
The total amount of funding under the program will be €4.4 million.
Vladimir Olenchenko, a researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS, defines such projects as a lever of American pressure on the Turkish government through the European Commission.
“I think that in this case the European Commission acts as a conductor of American interests aimed at putting pressure on the current political leadership of Turkey, and above all on Erdogan.
Human rights issues are an American invention of the last century, and they also actively use it in Latin America and Africa,” the expert emphasized in a conversation with RT.
Previously, the EC allocated more than €14 million to strengthen “participatory democracy” in the Western Balkans and Turkey.