ETHICS IN TURKEY

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ETHICS IN TURKEY

• 29 OCTOBER 2009

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BACKGROUND

• The people of Turkey consider corruption to be
  one of the key problems of their society.
• Surveys and reports confirm the adverse effects
  of corruption and point at the urgency to address
  it.

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LEGISLATIVE BACKGROUND OF ETHIC IN TURKISH
LEGISLATION
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CONSTITUTION

• No positive and negative discrimination for
  anyone, any band and family.
• All governmental organizations must act
  congenial to the principal of equality before the
  law in all their operations.

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LAW 5176

• Council Ethics For Public Service established by
  Law Related To The Establishment Council Of
  Ethics For Public Service And Making
  Modifications On Some Laws (Law 5276)

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PURPOSE OF 5176

• The aim of this Law is to determine the
  establishment, duty and working procedures and
  fundamentals of the Council of Ethics for Public
  Service as to adopt and observe the
  implementation of ethical attitude principles
  such as transparency, impartiality, honesty,
  accountability, that should be abided by the
  public officials.

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COVER OF 5176

• This Law covers all the personnel employed by
  governmental institutions.
• The provisions of this Law does not apply to the
  President of the Republic, members of the Grand
  National Assembly of Turkey, members of the Board
  of Ministers, Turkish Armed Forces, adjudication
  members and the universities.

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PROCESS TO APPLY TO COUNCIL

• Every Turkish citizen can apply to council.
• Your application should be about for a personel
  in the position of general directoriate or
  higher.
• Applications can not be made to the Council or
  the authorized disciplinary committees which are
  currently being examined by the adjudication
  bodies or that have been bound by a verdict by
  the adjudication bodies.

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EXAMINATION AND INVESTIGATION

• The Council is obliged to finalize the
  examination and investigations in 3 months.
• The Council shall inform the result of the
  examination to the relevant entities and the
  Prime Ministry in a written form.
• If the Council determines that the public
  official has performed operation or action
  violating the ethical attitude principles , this
  situation is announced by the Prime Ministry to
  the public as a Council decision via the Official
  Journal

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LAW 3628

• All the public officials must declare their
  properties.
• Every public official should deliver the gifts to
  his/her organization if the value of the gift is
  higher than 10 times of minimum wage.

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DEFINITION

• Ethics is compilation of values and behaviours
  having high positive externality which blocks the
  paths leading to the corruption, establishes
  smooth operation of society, politics,
  jurisdiction, and administration system,
  increases the quality of these institutions,
  solidifies trust element between the individuals
  and authorities.

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• Ethics is about the guiding values, principles
  and standards that help people determine how
  things ought to be done. It refers to the
  judgements that people make and the process of
  arriving at those judgements. It is the process
  by which people make value-based decisions.

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PRINCIPALS OF ETHICAL BEHAVOUR

• Awareness of public service in performance of a
  duty.
• Awareness of serving the community.
• Compliance with service standards.
• Commitment to the Objective and Mission.
• Integrity and Impartiality.
• Respectability and confidence.
• Decency and Respect.
• Notification to the competent authorities.
• Avoiding conflict of interest.

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PRINCIPALS OF ETHICAL BEHAVOUR

• Not using the duty and authorities to derive
  benefits.
• Prohibition of receiving gifts and deriving
  benefits
• Making use of public domain and sources.
• Avoiding extravagance.
• Binding explanations and factitious statement.
• Notification, transparency and participation.
• Managers liability to render account.
• Relations with former public officials.
• Declaring property

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ETHICAL DECISION MAKING MODEL

• STEP 1 DEFINE THE DECISION-MAKING PROBLEM
• Examine the context within which the
  decision-making problem is occurring. Ask
  yourself the following questions, the 5 Ws
  (What, When, Who, Why and How)
• What are the main factors affecting my
  decision?
• When does the decision have to be made and when
  will its impact be felt?
• Where will it impact?
• Who will be affected?
• Why will they be affected?

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ETHICAL DECISION MAKING MODEL

• STEP 2 IDENTIFY AND CONSIDER THE STAKEHOLDERS
• Review the fourth W above, list all possible
  stakeholders and identify their point of view,
  their potential position, on the matter.
• STEP 3 IDENTIFY THE UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES, LAWS,
  REGULATIONS AND POLICIES
• List the values and principles that are most
  relevant to the problem.
• Specify the possible courses of action and which
  value(s) or principle(s) each would be upholding

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ETHICAL DECISION MAKING MODEL

• STEP 4 IDENTIFY AND EVALUATE ALTERNATIVE
  DECISIONS
• List all alternative courses of action. For each
  alternative identify the following
• Impact on different stakeholders.
• Legal implications.
• Policy and procedural implications.
• Impact on values and principles.
• Decide on one individual alternative as the
  preferred option based on a consideration of the
  above.

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ETHICAL DECISION MAKING MODEL

• STEP 5 SEEK ANOTHER OPINION
• If you are still unsure of what to do or the
  decision will have a large impact, get a second
  opinion from an independent, trusted individual.
  Check on and use available mechanisms by which
  you can seek formal advice within the public
  service sector.

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ETHICAL DECISION MAKING MODEL

• STEP 6 MAKE A DECISION AND ACT
• Remember, once your decision is made and before
  acting on it, take a step back and carry out the
  following tests
• The newspaper test how would this look on the
  front page of the newspaper?
• The test of time test how would your decision
  and conduct be viewed in a year, five years,or
  even 10 years?
• The family test would you feel proud or ashamed
  when explaining this decision to your family?
• The personal test would you able to accept the
  soundness of this decision if you were directly
  affected by its outcome?

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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF BUSINESS ETHICS IN TURKEY

• Ahilik is a businessmen unions in each sector.
• It is based on ethical training of new
  generations.
• It controls the ethical issues in that sector.
  (Religion based)
• It started in Kayseri Anatolia in 13th century.

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ETHICS IN EDUCATION

• The obligatory lesson named as Religion and Ethic
  Subjects.

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ETHICS IN ADULT EDUCATION

• Target group is civil servants.
• Education methods are case studies, scenarios,
  ethical dilemmas.
• Ethics reminder
• Ethic guidelines
• Exercises