Privatization processes as ideological moments: The block sales of large-scale state enterprises in Turkey in the 2000s

Abstract

In the process of neoliberal transformation in Turkey, what differentiated the 2000s from the previous two decades were the block sale privatizations of large-scale state enterprises such as PETKİM, Türk Telekom, TÜPRAŞ, and ERDEMİR. These block sales, the conditions of which were shaped by political struggles at different levels, were also constitutive political and ideological moments per se, helping to reproduce a particular perception of social reality at the expense of others. This paper will overview and critically problematize the privatization processes of these four enterprises, all completed under the successive AKP governments in power since 2002. By focusing on the apparently technical and economic aspects of the block-sale processes, such as valuation, efficiency enhancement and marketing, the paper calls into question the increased concerns over their transparency, and wonders whether such concerns can be understood as attempts to mask the substantially corrupt nature of capitalist relations of production, which inescapably makes itself felt during these processes.

Extractivism and Labour Control: Reflections of Turkey’s ‘Coal Rush’ in Local Labour Regimes

“…Privatization of State Economic Enterprises (SEEs) has been on the policy agenda of neoliberal governments in Turkey since the mid-1980s. However, they faced strong impediments such as legal and institutional constraints, opposition within the parliament or government, and popular resistance from different segments of the society, including certain fractions of big capital (Angın and Bedirhanoğlu, 2012; Öniş, 2011; Zaifer, 2020). Large-scale privatizations in Turkey correspond to the AKP governments and since the early 2000s, privatizations have been central for the accumulation strategies of all fractions of the power bloc (Zaifer, 2018: 819).…”

Variegated Privatisation: Class, Capital Accumulation and State in Turkey’s Privatisation Process in the 1980s and 1990s

“…In one example of these accounts, Sevgi Balkan Şahin (2010) considers privatisation as a hegemonic project that can be contested or consented by domestic social class forces including different capital fractions and trade unions. In another study, Merih Angın and Pınar Bedirhanoğlu (2012) locates the privatisation processes in the political struggles, involving multi-level class conflicts that end up reproducing a particular “normality” in capital–labour–state relations at the expense of others, which in turn helps draw the boundaries between the legitimate and illegitimate practices during the privatisation processes.…”

The Acceleration of Privatization: Understanding State, Power Bloc, and Capital Accumulation in Turkey

“…At the domestic and international level, there was a welcoming but cautious attitude toward the AKP’s rise to power. Within such an atmosphere, the AKP had a special imperative to remain loyal to the neoliberal agenda and to accelerate the privatization process to demonstrate to domestic and international actors that it was the right party to govern Turkey (Angın and Bedirhanoğlu 2012: 150). The commitment of the AKP to privatization is, therefore, inscribed with the interests of the power bloc, but it is also rooted in its own strategies and struggles.…”

“… 3 With different theoretical backgrounds, examples of overpoliticization include Angın and Bedirhanoğlu (2012), Öniş (2011), and Şahin (2010). …”