Between Domestic Factors and the EU: Explaining the Emergence of the Turkish Competition Regime

Abstract

With the adoption of the Law on the Protection of Competition in 1994 and the establishment of the Turkish Competition Authority in 1997, Turkey joined the ranks of a growing number of countries that have adopted competition regimes in the last twenty years. A combination of domestic and external factors helps to account for the emergence and the evolution of the Turkish competition regime. The adoption of competition law was a key condition for Turkey's Customs Union agreement with the European Union, and this conditionality played a crucial role in the adoption of the law and the establishment of the Competition Authority by helping Turkish policy makers overcome the opposition from domestic interests. The evolution of competition policy since then, however, can best be explained by domestic institutional factors and the Turkish Competition Authority's ties with international organizations working in the competition policy area.