Power, interests and coalitions: The political economy of mass privatisation in Turkey

Third World Quarterly

Volumn 32, Issue 4, 2011, Pages 707-724

  Önis, Ziya ^a  

^a KOÇ UNIVERSITY   (Turkey)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK; NEOLIBERALISM; POLICY ANALYSIS; POLICY APPROACH; POLITICAL ECONOMY; PRIVATIZATION;

TURKEY;

EID: 79958001568     PISSN: 01436597     EISSN: 13602241     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2011.567004     Document Type: Article

References (42)

1. On the Turkish neoliberal experiment, see Z Öniş, 'Turgut Ö zal and his economic legacy: Turkish neoliberalism in critical perspective', Middle Eastern Studies, 40(4), 2004, pp 113-134
2. T Ari{dotless}canli{dotless} & D Rodrik (eds), The Political Economy of Turkey: Debt, Adjustment and Sustainability, London: Macmillan, 1990
3. Z Öniş & F Şenses (eds), Turkey and the Global Economy: Neo-liberal Restructuring and Integration in the Post-crisis Era, London: Routledge, 2009.
4. On the Turkish privatization experience
5. M Ercan & Z Öniş, 'Turkish privatization: institutions and dilemmas', Turkish Studies, 2(1), 2001, pp 109-134
6. I Atiyas, 'Recent privatization experience of Turkey: a reappraisal', in Ö niş & Ş enses, Turkey and the Global Economy, pp 101-122
7. Ç Ökten, 'Privatization in Turkey: what has been achieved?', in S Altuǧ & A Filiztekin (eds), The Turkish Economy: The Real Economy, Corporate Governance and Reform, London: Routledge, 2006, pp 227-251. For a highly critical analysis of Turkish privatisation in terms of its mode of implementation and welfare consequences.
8. E Yeldan, 'Assessing the privatization experience in Turkey: implementation, politics and performance results', 2006, at Global Policy Network, http://www.gpn.org.
9. Latin American experiences with large-scale privatisation have been extensively studied. For a sample of key publications.
10. L Manzetti, Privatization South American Style, New York: Oxford University Press, 1999
11. L Manzetti, Regulatory Policy in Latin America: Post-Privatization Realities, Miami: North-South Center Press at the University of Miami, 2000
12. M Llanos, Privatization and Democracy in Argentina: An Analysis of President and Congress Relations, New York: Palgrave, 2002
13. PK Blind, Democratic Institutions of Undemocratic Individuals: Privatizations, Labor, and Democracy in Argentina and Turkey, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009
14. J Teichman, Privatization and Political Change in Mexico, Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1995
15. D Macleod, Downsizing the State: Privatization and the Limits of Neo-liberal Reform in Mexico, University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004.
16. See in this context W Baer & G Montes-Rojas, 'From privatization to re-nationalization: what went wrong with privatizations in Argentina?', Oxford Development Studies, 36(3), 2008, pp 323-337.
17. The article illustrates the social costs of a weak regulatory environment in Argentina coupled with the significant lobbying power of newly created enterprises. The result has been re-privatisation and renationalisation of many services in the post-2001 era.
18. For a good analysis of how key elements of the domestic private capital become supporters of the privatisation programme, helping to swing the balance of power in favour of the pro-privatisation coalition in the process
19. J Corrales, 'Coalitions and corporate choices in Argentina, 1976-1994: the recent private sector support of privatization', Studies in Comparative International Development, 32(4), 1998, pp 24-51.
20. This is a particularly serious problem in the context of the recent wave of privatisations involving the sale of electricity distribution networks, given the weakness of the regulatory structures in these sectors.
21. T Çetin & F Oǧuz, 'The politics of regulation in the Turkish electricity market', Energy Policy, 35(3), 2007, pp 1761-1770.
22. For a comprehensive discussion of the weaknesses of the legal and institutional framework as a limiting force on Turkish privatization.
23. I Atiyas, 'Recent privatization experience of Turkey: a reappraisal', in Ö niş & Ş enses, Turkey and the Global Economy, pp 106-109.
24. Atiyas, 'Recent privatization in Turkey', p 107 argues that it would be wrong to blame the Constitutional Court as a key force blocking the privatisation process in Turkey. He calls for a more balanced approach that emphasises the fact that some of the concerns of the Constitutional Court were quite legitimate.
25. According to the AKP government's programme, 'privatization is important for the creation of a more rational economic order. Privatization also aims to improve productivity and facilitate the withdrawal of the state from activities which will distort the workings of the competitive market economy'.
26. http://www.akparti.org.tr/3-3-ozellestirme-79.html?pID1/416. For a good discussion of the AKP, including its commitment to the key elements of the neoliberal programme such as privatization
27. E Ö zbudun, 'From political Islam to conservative democracy: the case of the Justice and Development Party in Turkey', South European Society and Politics, 11(3-4), 2006, pp 543-557.
28. Petrol-_Iş union has produced a detailed report outlining its case against the privatisation of TÜ PRAŞ.
29. Petrol-_Iş, The Largest Industrial Enterprise in the Country, TÜPRAŞ, Ankara: Petrol-_Iş Yayi{dotless}ni{dotless}, No 98, 2005.
30. Cumhuriyet, a national daily known for its left-nationalist perspective, started a campaign in the wake of TÜ PRAŞ' privatisation, which supported the selling of this strategic industrial complex to national capital It was ironic that left-nationalist writers like the well known Cumhuriyet columnist, Ilhan Selçuk, supported the sale of TÜ PRAŞ to Koç and Shell. He wrote 'Isn't Koç a reliable company? If we do not support the purchase of TÜ PRAŞ by a national company Koç, Islamic capital will buy the company'. Cumhuriyet, 6 April 2006.
31. In response to union attempts to force a cancellation of the sale of TÜ PRAŞ to Koç and Shell, Ri{dotless}fat Hisarci{dotless}kli{dotless}oǧlu, Chairman of the Turkish Association of Chambers and Stock Exchanges (TOBB), argued that 'Koç is among the top 200 firms in the world. Any harm which would be inflicted on Koç would be equally damaging for the country as a whole. Koç has been successful in winning the deal. Who would now cover the costs to Koç?'. Hürriyet, 4 February 2006.
32. This is a good illustration of the mood regarding the broad tendency in response to opposition to privatisation deals when national capital was involved.
33. 'Turkey's Oyak secures $1.6 billion loan to buy Erdemir', Turkish Daily News, 27 December 2005.
34. On the positive response of broad segments of public opinion and especially the labour unions to the sale of Erdemir to a component of 'national capital', OYAK.
35. 'Erdemir'i OYAK'i{dotless}n Almasi{dotless}ndan Yö neticiler de Sendikalar da Memnun' (Both managers and labour unions are happy about the sale of Erdemir to OYAK), Referans, 6 October 2005
36. 'NeMutlu kiMilli Sermayede Kaldi{dotless}' (It is so good that it stayed in the hands of national capital), Tercüman, 5 October 2005
37. '_Ihaleden Herkes Memnun' (Everybody is happy about the deal), Radikal, 6 October 2005.
38. On the negative social and distributional consequences of the Turkish neoliberal restructuring experience and the marginalisation of labour unions
39. Among others, N Balkan & S Savran (eds), The Politics of Permanent Crisis: Class, Ideology and the State in Turkey, New York: Nova Science, 2002. For a comparative analysis of labour and unions in the context of the respective privatization experiences of Turkey and Argentina.
40. Blind, Democratic Institutions of Undemocratic Individuals.
41. On the details of the strike by the former TEKEL workers and the possibility of whether this would turn into a major generalised reaction among Turkish workers
42. E Yeldan, '2010 TEKEL workers' resistance: re-awakening of the proletariat in Turkey', Labornet Turkey, 25 May 2010, at http://www.sendika.org/english/yazi.php?yazi_no1/429021 A perceptive account is also provided by T Bora, 'Tekel _Işç ileri Eylemi: Tekel'in Sesi' (Tekel workers' strike: the voice of Tekel), Birikim, 250, February 2010, pp 6-9.