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The Third Sector Foundation of Turkey (TÜSEV) was founded 23 years ago by more than two dozen non-governmental organizations and some of Turkey's prominent foundations like Sabanc?, Vehbi Koç and the Turkish Foundation for Combatting Soil Erosion, for Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Habitats (TEMA).

The aim was to develop civil society's legal, financial and functional infrastructure.

In short, TÜSEV is working for a strong civil society in Turkey.

TÜSEV has been preparing a report overviewing the situation of Turkey's civil society since 2011. I had the chance to talk TÜSEV Secretary General Tevfik Ba?ak Ersen about the third and most recent report, which was made public in the last days of 2015.

First, let's see the situation from the perspective of the numbers:

According to the report, which covered 2013-2014, there were 104,066 associations and 4,893 foundations in Turkey.

When you look to the areas of activity, only 1.5 percent of associations and 0.5 percent of foundations were working on the issue of human rights.

Education, sustainable development, culture and art were among other areas of activity.

Let's not underestimate the foundations' and associations' contribution to our lives, despite the insufficiency of their financial resources.

For example, life in Istanbul would be colorless if not for the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), which organizes music and film festivals, among other events, in the city.

Getting back to the numbers, 13 percent of Turkey's population was a member of an association; 5 percent of association members were women and 70 percent were between the ages of 30-50.

According to the view of the TÜSEV team that...