1. The experiences of Turkey in the
2nd Round Peer Reviews
International Relations Department, TurkStat
April, 2016

2. Outline Being pilot country Preparations Visit Current situation
Early preparations
Informative meetings
Questionnaires
Documentation
Organisational issues
Visit
Current situation
Conclusions/Remarks

3. Being pilot country Strategic Information Meeting, March 18, 2015:
Turkey decided to be the pilot country for the second round of peer reviews on the enlargement countries

4. Preparation of TurkStat for 2nd Round PR
Right after Strategic Information Meeting:
“TurkStat Peer Review (TPR) Team” established
Key documents; “Code of Practice Self-Assessment Questionnaire”, “NSI’s Guide” and “Peer’s Guide” reviewed
Road map, managerial issues and tasks of departments discussed with top management 4

5. Preparation of TurkStat
Right after Strategic Information Meeting:
Informative meetings realized internally
Introductory presentation performed for stakeholders and staff
Documentation studies started in TurkStat
Gantt Chart prepared for following the process 5

6. Preparation of TurkStat
Right after Strategic Information Meeting:
Two stakeholders chosen for filling the Light Self- Assessment Questionnaire:
Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT)
Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs (MFWA) 6

7. Preparation of TurkStat -Questionnaires
Self-Assessment and Coordination role of NSIs Questionnaires delivered to all units in TurkStat
Light Self-Assessment Questionnaire shared with two stakeholders
TPR Team filled certain parts of the questionnaires and worked as an information/support desk 7

8. Preparation of TurkStat-Questionnaires
Self-Assessment and Coordination Questionnaires obtained from units and merged by TPR Team
Inadequate or unclear answers evaluated and improved
Merged Questionnaire examined at several stages:
TPR Team level
Vice Presidency level
Presidency level 8

9. Preparation of TurkStat-Questionnaires
Light Self-Assessment Questionnaire given to two stakeholders
Translation services organized by TPR Team
Questionnaires evaluated and finalized in consultation with two stakeholders 9

10. Preparation of TurkStat -Documentation
An inventory prepared for important/institutional
documents in TurkStat in the light of;
- 1st round experiences
- Institutional inventory
- Questionnaires
- Country reports
Similar inventory requested from two stakeholders according to refers in questionnaires
Translation and summarisation studies realised
Documents ( ̴ 80) prepared 10

11. Preparation of TurkStat -Organisational Issues
Organisational studies realized simultaneously with questionnaires and documentations
Several meetings organized with
units in TurkStat
regional offices for increasing awareness
CBRT and MFWA
target groups
stakeholders
academics 11

12. 2nd Round Peer Review- Visit
Realized on November 3-6, 2015
Peer Review Team:
Mr. Gerry O’Hanlon, former DG of CSO Ireland
Ms. Pilar Martin-Guzman, Former Director of INE, Spain
Mr. Ferenc Galik (Eurostat)

13. 2nd Round Peer Review- Visit
AGENDA REVIEW TURKEY.docx
All agenda items put in order according to the participants
TurkStat represented Presidency/Vice Presidency level in all meetings

14. Current situation
First draft report sent to TurkStat on November 25th, 2015
Peer Review team concluded that TurkStat is highly compliant with the CoP
Compares favourably with other NSls in this respect
The two ONAs examined as part of the Review also exhibited very good levels of compliance
PR team identified some issues and challenges to improve or enhance the level of compliance with the CoP….

15. TurkStat is expecting second draft report…
Current situation
Draft report contains 25 recommendations in 3 main headings
Comments and objections sent to peer review Team on December 11th, 2015 by TurkStat
TurkStat is expecting second draft report…

16. Conclusions/ Lessons Learned
Opportunity to see strong aspects of the system and good practices, and areas need to be developed,
More responsibility on the NSIs and ONAs
Number of questionnaires
Audit-like approach
Principles evaluated during the visit
Formulating the improvement actions by the NSI itself
Experiencing the same methods like the ESS countries: A positive novelty for enlargement countries

17. Conclusions/Lessons Learned
Support of top management: indispensible for PRs
Informing not only the top management but also all levels of staff: a significant activity for the global awareness
Defining improvement actions by the NSIs themselves
very useful method on defining more “to the point” actions and ensuring the NSIs to be more committed to the improvement actions

18. Conclusions/Remarks
A small core group consisting of head of departments/senior experts would be better for the questionnaire phase
Self-assessment questionnaire is very long and some questions are not clear and repeating
guidelines would be useful
A study visit prior and in addition to the in-country visit as observer be beneficial
Annexing a template on the improvement actions to the methodology of the peer reviews be beneficial
Time constraint is a critical aspect during the PR activities

19. Thank you four your attention!!19