The Turkish government has ordered the transfer of state assets worth billions of dollars to a Sovereign Wealth Fund. The transferred state assets include critical assets including Ziraat Bank, oil and natural gas distributor BOTAŞ, postal service PTT, satellite operator Türksat, mining company Eti Maden, tea enterprise Çay-Kur and many others.
The Chamber of Electrical Engineers (EMO) reacted the Turkish government’s order of transfer with a statement, “AKP seizes public assets”.
“UNACCEPTABLE”
“Establishing a Sovereign Wealth Fund in order to sell or pledge the public resources in an uncontrolled manner, AKP [the ruling Justice and Development Party] has seized the last state-owned big public enterprises prior to the referendum. 11 big enterprises and lands have been transferred to the Sovereign Wealth Fund. The transfer is unacceptable since it means that the public resources will be used at will and transferred to the supporters [of AKP] with the aim of pledging the public shares for money and carrying out interventions and manipulations in the market for the benefit of some unknown people.”
“UNLIMITED, UNCONTROLLED PLUNDER”
The state’s 49,12% share in Turkish Airlines and 51,11% in Halkbank have been transferred to the Turkish Sovereign Wealth Fund.
Indicating the implementations that will be carried out by the government in an uncontrolled way, EMO says thus the government will be able to;
-Sell the public shares of this companies at will,
-Sell or purchase the capital market instruments, fund shares, lease certificates, real estate certificates, foreign investment instruments and all sorts of investment instruments of these enterprises,
-Direct all money market operations of the enterprises transferred to the Sovereign Wealth Fund in accordance with its interests. Make decisions at the expense of the people prioritizing not the budget balances of the public enterprises but its needs of monetary resources,
-Carry out all sorts of commercial and financial operations in both national and foreign markets. Give these public enterprises as pledge so as to find foreign project credits,
-Sell the immovable properties of the transferred public enterprises at will.
“PERSONAL AND POLITICAL INTERESTS FROM PUBLIC ASSETS”
Showing that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will use the transferred state assets for personal and political interests in an uncontrolled way through the Sovereign Wealth Fund with broad authorities, EMO concludes the statement:
“The whole operations of the Fund have become out of the control of the Court of Accounts, TBMM [The Grand National Assembly of Turkey] and the Public Procurement Authority. What they project as control is just the so-called independent control that will be determined by the Prime Minister.
No such regulations providing great rent possibilities have been passed in TBMM throughout the Republican era. We remind the government that these public enterprises are not their personal assets, but belong to the people of this country as the savings of years with their great efforts. We remind the government that its attempt to use these enterprises in direction of their own interests will be disrespect for the ‘national will’ as they often say. This country and its assets are not abandoned.”
