Competition Policy in Turkey

We review the enforcement of competition policy and the activities of Turkish Competition Authority during 1997-2000. Descriptive statistics are provided on the caseload handled, such as types of anti-competitive behavior investigated, breakdown of investigations by industry, violations found, and penalties imposed. Competition Authority has been stretched in terms of manpower as it has faced a flood of applications in addition to having to develop the necessary secondary legislation. The most salient cases handled concerned infringement of competition, while a rather lenient position was taken in authorizing mergers and acquisitions. The silence of the Turkish Competition Law regarding public undertakings is a potential source of problem for aligning competition policies with those of EU.