Capitalists in Turkey continue to increase their profits under the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) despite the financial crisis and huge debts. Ülker, a major Turkish manufacturer of food products, had its profits reached a record high in 2017, with a profit of 431 million TL [~$113,400,000].
The debt restructuring of Ülker had been arranged by another capitalist group, Koç Holding’s Yapı Kredi Bank.
Ülker, one of the largest food monopolies in Turkey, doubled its sales to 4,8 billion TL [~$1,3 billion] with an increase of 14.7 percent. The company has achieved record growth by declaring the highest net profit and EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization) of its history.
Yildiz Holding, run by Turkey’s richest capitalist Murat Ülker, had sold 102.6 million shares, equal to 30% of its capital, within Turkey’s largest cookie and biscuit company Ülker Biscuits, to the UK-based company Pladis Foods Limited for 2 billion TL [~$526 million]. With this sale, Pladis’s share in Ülker has risen to 51 percent.
In November 2016, the pro-government daily Sabah had claimed that Ülker Group was the secret partner of Kaynak Holding, seized by the Turkish government due to its strong ties to the Gülen network -also known as the ‘Fethullahist Terror Organization’ led by U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, the prime suspect of the July 15 failed coup attempt in Turkey.
Yıldız Holding requested the largest loan ever from Turkish banks in February 2018, stating that it suffers from financial difficulties and is required to make monthly loan repayments that can reach more than $1 billion.
Meanwhile, Koç Holding, Turkey’s largest "secularist" capital, also astronomically increased its profits in 2017 at its oil refinery Turkish Petroleum Refineries Corporation (TÜPRAŞ), a formerly state-run company privatized during the rule of AKP government.
As Turkey’s top capitalists such as the so-called "secularist" Koç Holding circle or pro-government Islamist Ülker Group are enlisted as the two of the richest capitalists globally according to Forbes, workers in Turkey face anti-labour impositions and occupational murder at their workplaces. While most of Turkey’s public assets were privatized during the rule of AKP, the ongoing state of emergency has further escalated exploitation by these capitalist groups in the country.
