Economy Service
The Republic’s accumulations were sold off through the most extensive wave of privatisation in history over the past two decades. Factories, energy plants, ports, mines, and strategic institutions established under state leadership were one by one handed over to the “market.” Privatisation efforts, which were “secured” after the 12 September coup and initiated in the 1980s under Turgut Özal, gained unprecedented momentum under AKP rule. Not only the means of production but also the common past, labour, and future of citizens were added to the sales list. The rhetoric of “public benefit” gave way to asset sales carried out under the pretext of closing the budget deficit, while examples such as TEKEL and SEKA, which became symbols of social resistance, remain etched in collective memory as signs of the destruction caused by privatisation in Turkey.
Privatisation revenues amounted to 7 billion 812 million dollars from 1986, when asset sales began, up to 2003. Under the AKP government, privatisation flourished, generating 63 billion 381 million dollars in revenue between early 2003 and the end of 2024. Privatisations, which did not even reach 8 billion dollars in the 17 years from the first Özal government until the AKP came to power in November 2002, exceeded 63 billion dollars in 22 years. The revenues from these sales were more than eight times those obtained by the ANAP and coalition governments. Over 89 percent of all privatisations took place during this period, marking the “golden age” of sell-offs.
The Privatisation Administration, affiliated with the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, held 69 tenders in 2024. This year saw 35 per cent more tenders than in 2023, which coincided with the 100th anniversary of the Republic. Each year, more services and institutions are being included in the ‘privatisation programme’.
THE ONLY SUPPORT IS THE REGIME
In fact, the Administration’s activity reports even acknowledged that citizens opposed privatisation. Under the “Weaknesses” section of the performance evaluations, it stated, “If there is no further political support, more problems may arise, as there is no social support for privatisations.” Knowing it could not persuade the public and that asset sales would spark resistance, the Administration appealed directly to the president. As the report itself noted, broad sections of society opposed the disposal of public assets, the sell-off of companies at giveaway prices, and the enrichment of cronies. Last year, hundreds of mine workers launched a resistance to prevent the privatisation of the Çayırhan Thermal Power Plant and its affiliated pits, then under EÜAŞ. The miners, arguing that the asset was profitable, caused no public loss, and guaranteed their livelihoods, managed to have the tender postponed through strikes, sit-ins, and marches with support from labour allies. However, the AKP proceeded with the sale, maintaining its policy of no limits in privatisation.
Even though the Administration admitted there was “no public support,” the regime remains determined to cash in on the nation’s accumulations. In its early years in power, the AKP showed it would surpass its predecessors in selling public assets, a process that became “crowned” with the single-man signature system.
In its first year, 2003, sales of properties or shares from Sümer Holding, SEKA, EÜAŞ, THY, TEKEL, and Karadeniz Bakır totalled 13 million 619 thousand 581 dollars. The following years were no different. The most significant companies were sold off. Factories, ports, transport networks, mines, and power plants were privatised one after another. Ports belonging to Türkiye Deniz İşletmeleri were handed over through urban crimes such as Galataport and fire-sale deals like Kalamış Marina. The privatisation of remaining ports is still ongoing.
IT DIDN’T END WITH SELLING
Sümer Holding, one of the most affected groups, could not be exhausted even after decades of sell-offs. From the date it was included in the privatisation portfolio to the end of 2024, 16 subsidiaries, 47 enterprises, 47 shareholdings, 2 brands, 3 facilities, 6 incomplete plants, 309 shops, 254 buildings, and 4,800 plots of land owned by these entities were sold. Founded in 1933, the conglomerate, known for its affordable and high-quality textile products was stripped of everything from its banks to weaving mills, from cotton and hemp fabric production to ceramic and porcelain plants. Even as recently as last July, public lands of the Holding were still being sold, with the remaining mines slated to mark the final phase of privatisation. Among the buyers were holdings such as Sarar and Garipoğlu.
FROM SEKA TO TEKEL: RESISTANCE
Türkiye Selüloz ve Kağıt Fabrikaları A.Ş. (SEKA) was another company where privatisation met resistance. At the beginning of 2005, the decision to privatise SEKA sparked a workplace occupation at its İzmit plant, which then spread to the Balıkesir, Çaycuma, Dalaman, Giresun, and Silifke branches. Founded in 1936, SEKA was shut down by the AKP, achieving what Özal could not, ending paper production. The paper crisis that continues today began with this privatisation. The Balıkesir plant’s unlawful transfer to the Albayrak Group is still remembered. Nothing remains of SEKA today.
As the regime well knows, citizens who saw these assets as their own never consented to privatisation. The decision to privatise TEKEL, which employed thousands securely, triggered one of the most significant resistances in the country’s history. The AKP’s privatisation efforts, which began in 2004, culminated in 2008 when the sale of TEKEL united workers from across Turkey in the largest post-1980 protest. Facilities like the Yozgat Beer Factory were closed and sold off during this period. The alcoholic beverages section was sold to a US-based company, which then resold it to Texas Pacific Group for triple the profit. The most profitable tobacco enterprises were effectively gifted to international corporations.
TEKEL, originally founded when the Ottoman Empire’s debt management Reji Administration was nationalised under the Republic, was sold to London-based British American Tobacco for 1 billion 720 million dollars. TEKEL workers staged a historic 78-day resistance in Ankara. Of the 10,000 workers, 8,000 were laid off. The number of tobacco farmers dropped from 194,000 to 80,000 between 2008 and 2009. Crèches, housing, sports clubs, accommodation and holiday facilities once provided by these public companies were wiped out. Workers’ conditions were eroded and their rights gradually forgotten.
The destruction of the Republic’s accumulations, public wealth, labour guarantees, and social ownership became the hidden truth beneath the AKP’s tales of “economic rise.” The gaps left by the government’s reckless spending could not be closed even with these sales. The Privatisation Administration’s 2026 budget proposal revealed that a new phase of asset sales is on the way. With ever-increasing pace, the agency aims to sell 70 billion dollars’ worth of public assets in 165 tenders next year.
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Asırlık birikimler 23 yıldır ipotek altında, published in BirGün newspaper on October 29, 2025.
