Ufc Türkiye
Maarit Hibbits
This paper has several goals: it seeks to understand the reasons behind these local changes, the role of the state and private sector in Türkiye in these changes, and the way China has responded so far. Of course, domestic factors are not the only ones that shape the implementation of BRI projects in Türkiye or elsewhere; regional and global trends have had an impact too.
This paper builds on fieldwork interviews with key stakeholders in Türkiye, including with those in relevant state institutions (presidency and ministries), the private sector (Chinese and Turkish companies), and civil society (professional associations and nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs). The interviewees are anonymized throughout the paper. To ensure anonymity, the interviewees will not be identified except to point to their domain of work: state sector, private sector, or civil society sector. To further protect these interviewees, the dates of the interviews are not specified. The authors also benefited from attending meetings organized by relevant professional associations.
Türkiye established diplomatic relations with China in 1971, but real improvements in bilateral relations came only later, when the Turkish government decided to distance itself from the Uyghur diaspora in the late 1990s. The Uyghurs are a Muslim Turkic people who speak a language related to Turkish, and there is much public sympathy in Türkiye for their plight. When prompted with relevant news, the public discussion on the Uyghurs often revolves around the human rights abuses of the Chinese governments against Uyghurs.
As a result, China has oscillated between shying away from Türkiye because of perceived political and financial risks and then reengaging with it in the face of regional crises and reconfigurations. One example of the latter is the promotion in Türkiye of the so-called Health Silk Road during the coronavirus pandemic, and the increasing importance of the Eastern Mediterranean maritime routes and Middle Corridor in the face of the war in Ukraine. The transportation and energy sectors in particular showcase this dynamic push and pull between standoffishness and reengagement.14
For their part, private Chinese companies have sought collaborations with the pro-government business elite for investments in the renewables industry, while the Chinese SOEs that have been able to enter the highway projects have become a part of the prestige-seeking transportation megaprojects. They could achieve this by cultivating the Turkish ruling party. By responding to both the business and state elites, Chinese players have learned to play politics in Türkiye as a strategy for market entry.
As of 2022, Türkiye had improved the Edirne-Kars railway connection but could not significantly increase its transit capacity without foreign investment. The freight operations of TCDD were privatized in the hope that this would increase their speed and volume. However, the privatization process fell victim to corruption and nepotism, and the result was the monopoly of one company with strong ties to the political elite and leadership.47 The private company even intended to limit the Chinese transit load when it first took over the railways.48
In the 2010s, however, both Türkiye and China moved toward consolidating renewables markets to enhance their global competitiveness. In China, SOEs took over the large-scale and high-risk renewables investments within the BRI; in Türkiye, meanwhile, YEKA bids allowed private big capital to seek overseas partners for the construction of large-scale and high-risk solar and wind power plants.
In response to losing these bids, the Chinese companies initially withdrew from the Turkish market, and Solargiga even contemplated closing its office in Türkiye entirely.75 Mingyang has been building hydropower plants in Türkiye since the 1980s but, after losing its bid, has limited its investment in Türkiye to real estate projects.76
One lesson from the Turkish case is that Chinese firms prefer wholesale exit when they lack the political ability and skill to play local politics well. Instead of simply replacing the German and South Korean partners in the solar and wind consortiums when invited to do so, Chinese companies recalibrated their businesses in Türkiye and shifted instead to a focus on SMEs that are more sympathetic to Chinese goods and capital.
Having recalibrated their strategy to focus on an entirely different part of the Turkish system, these Chinese companies engage with Turkish SMEs on renewables in several ways. The first is to establish a special purpose acquisition company, more often called a SPAC, as a front company to financially support SMEs in the renewables sector. The Chinese SOE State Development and Investment Corporation also pursued this strategy on the Aegean coast to finance wind power investments of local SMEs.82 Another approach is to sell solar panels to hydropower plants run by big capital,83 since the latter is the only interest group in Türkiye that can currently offer above-the-market prices for Chinese goods due to the anti-dumping duties.
Türkiye ended up, therefore, with contestation between China-aligned SMEs and big capital that defeated the early Chinese bids. But playing politics is still dispositive in AKP-ruled Türkiye, so these large conglomerates successfully lobbied to impose anti-dumping taxes specifically targeting Chinese products, leveraging the same political connections that had won them the wind and solar bids in the first place.84
Of course, there have been adaptations here too. Chinese companies faced the potential loss of market share because they were selling photovoltaic panels to individual Turkish SMEs. As a result, these SMEs now buy Chinese products via Malaysia instead of directly in order to bypass the anti-dumping duties and prolonged customs procedures.85 Türkiye is not able to impose anti-dumping duties on Malaysian imports because Malaysia, unlike China, has a trade agreement with Türkiye that precludes them.
Türkoğlu A, Haliloğlu K, Mohammadi SA, Öztürk A, Bolouri P, Özkan G, Bocianowski J, Pour-Aboughadareh A, Jamshidi B.Genetic Diversity and Population Structure in Türkiye Bread Wheat Genotypes Revealed by Simple Sequence Repeats (SSR) Markers. Genes. 2023; 14(6):1182.
Türkoğlu, Aras, Kamil Haliloğlu, Seyyed Abolgahasem Mohammadi, Ali Öztürk, Parisa Bolouri, Güller Özkan, Jan Bocianowski, Alireza Pour-Aboughadareh, and Bita Jamshidi.2023. "Genetic Diversity and Population Structure in Türkiye Bread Wheat Genotypes Revealed by Simple Sequence Repeats (SSR) Markers" Genes 14, no. 6: 1182.
Hamburg, 7 July 2023. The Nordex Group underpins its market leadership in Türkiye with further orders. VRES Enerji has commissioned the manufacturer to supply 8 units of its N163/6.X turbine for the 56 MW extension of the Kartal wind farm in the Eskiehir Province in the northwest of the country; installation is scheduled for mid-2024. The order also includes a Premium Service contract for a period of ten years.
We are grateful for our customers continued trust in our technology and our experienced team, says Ender Ozatay, Vice President Region Türkiye & Middle East. The Turkish Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EMRA) has recently announced 25 GW pre-license capacity for the next 10-year-period for renewable projects with storage, and we aim to build on our strong position in Türkiye.
In total, the Nordex Group secured 101 MW in orders from Türkiye in the second quarter of the year. To date, the company has installed 3,571 MW in the region with an additional 889 MW still under construction.
Another new project sponsored by the Church was the construction and distribution of 50 housing containers for health and medical staff that is currently working in the main hospital of Antakya, in the Hatay area. These special housing containers include two single bedrooms, two toilets and an air conditioning unit. The project is being done in collaboration with the Health Ministry of Türkiye and it will be completed by mid-July.
Özet: Eğitim, araştırma ve yayın faaliyetleri yürüten üniversitelerin bu işlevleri beklenen ölçüde gerçekleştirmelerindekütüphanelerin rolü büyüktür. Üniversite kütüphanelerinin işlevselliği sahip olduğuolanaklar ile yakından ilişkilidir. Bu çalışmada Türkiye'deki üniversite kütüphanelerinin mevcut durumuuluslararası standartlar ve kütüphane yöneticilerinin görüşleri doğrultusunda değerlendirilmiştir.Türkiye'de üniversitelerin yapılanması kamu ve devlet olmak üzere iki türlüdür. Kamu üniversitelerininher tür gereksinimi kamu kaynaklarından ayrılan pay ile karşılanmaktadır. Vakıf üniversiteleri iseeğitim kurumu olmaları yanında ticari bir kuruluş niteliği de taşımaktadır. Bu nedenle kamu üniversitelerineoranla daha fazla olanaklara sahiptirler.Çalışmada, Türkiye'deki üniversite kütüphanelerinin mevcut durumlarını tespiti için American Collegeand Research Libraries'in 2004 yılı standartlarında geçen değerlendirme noktaları temel alınmıştır.Bu doğrultuda oluşturulan kütüphanelerin fiziksel ortam ve koşulları, bütçesi; personeli ile derme geliştirme,kaynak alımı ve sunumuna ilişkin ifadelere üniversite kütüphanelerinin yöneticilerinin verdiğiyanıtlar, kamu ve vakıf üniversitesi ayırımı ile ele alınmıştır. Türkiye'de üniversite kütüphanelerinin sahipolduğu olanakların yetersizliği, özellikle kamu üniversitesi kütüphanelerinin nitelikli hizmet üretebilmelerininönündeki en büyük engeldir. Üzerinde düşünülmesi gereken bir diğer sorun, kamu ve vakıfüniversitesi kütüphanelerinin arasında olanaklar açısından önemli farklılıklar olmasına karşın, kamuüniversitesi kütüphane yöneticilerinin mevcut olanaklarına yönelik iyimser değerlendirmeleridir.Anahtar Kelimeler: Üniversite kütüphaneleri, akademik kütüphaneler, Türkiye'de üniversite kütüphaneleri,ACRL üniversite kütüphaneleri standartlarıAbstract: The role of libraries in realizing the functions by university libraries carrying out researchand publication activities in expected level is great. The functionality of university libraries has a closerelationship with their facilities. In this research, the existing conditions of university libraries in Turkeyare assessed in the direction of international standards and the opinions of library managers.In Turkey, structuring of universities is in two types as public and foundation. Every kind of needsof public universities is met by share allocated from public sources. Foundation universities are also acommercial institution besides being an education institution. For this reason, they have more facilitiesthan public universities.In the research, assessment points in 2004 standards of American College and Research Librariesare taken as basis in order to determine the existing conditions of university libraries in Turkey. Theanswers of university library managers for expressions about physical space and conditions, budget,personnel of libraries, collection developing, resource buying and presenting are dealt with the publicand foundation university discrimination. The deficiency of facilities of university libraries in Turkey isthe biggest handicap especially for public university libraries in presenting a qualified service. Anotherproblem needs to be considered is the optimistic assessments of public university library managers on theexistent facilities in spite of the important facility differences between public and foundation libraries.Key Words: University libraries, academic libraries, university libraries in Turkey, Standards forlibraries in higher education
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