Turkey's EU ministry to grant funds for media, NGOs

Turkey's European Union Ministry (EU) will provide 9 million euros in grant funds to media and civil society organizations as part of the Turkey-EU joint "Civil Society Dialogue III Grant Scheme." EU Minister Egemen Bagis said in a written statement on Friday that the ministry will support projects on "Political Criteria" and "Media." Political Criteria Grant Scheme aims at introducing EU policies on counter-discrimination, human rights, democracy and the rule of law to the civil society organizations working on those subjects, and providing mutual interaction with their European counterparts, while Media Grant Scheme seeks to strengthen capacity of media actors, as well as establishing sustainable link with European media organs, Bagis said. Developing joint projects is the requirement for registration and the deadline is July 5 for the political criteria program, and July 12 for the media program.