Perceptions of Corruption in Greece and Turkey and Their Impact to Anti-Corruption Policies

Based on corruption research conducted within the EU-funded project "Crime and Culture" the article undertakes a short comparison between perceptions of corruption in Greece and Turkey. The scope of the article, however, is not to analyze perceptions of corruption in toto but rather to investigate their typical structure in both countries. Accordingly, the article argues that corruption in both countries does not represent just a problem among others but is enmeshed in the very fabric of the society and proves to be a "vanity mirror" of a weak citizenship which characterizes the relationship between state and citizens. It also argues that the core element that boosts corruption In both countries should be located in the political sphere. Although reasons and conditions of corrupt conduct are In these two countries different, making politics means first of all securing power and corruption is one of the most important means to achieve this. The fact that the system of check and balances, to which the media and most importantly civil society should be included, is underdeveloped or not properly functioning, just worsens the situation.