Economic policy during Ataturk's era in Turkey (1923-1938)

Abstract

New Republic of Turkey took over Ottoman Empire with a highly centralized political structure; this structure featured authoritarian management with an economic infrastructure based mainly on agriculture, where commerce and industry were almost completely dominated by the Europeans. It is unlikely to grasp the new era in an integrated manner, if the economical and political structures are handled separately. The economical classification and considerations on Ataturk's period should also take into account the political restructuring and the relations in between. This is the only way to approach the question in an integrated manner. As a result of such an approach, we see that the attempt to create a nation-state understanding in the political domain from the very beginning, even though the analysis of the economic policy of Ataturk's period may be divided into two sub-periods, namely 1923-29 and 1929-1938, was not easy. It is evident that such an understanding that completely dominated the political domain could not be based on the inherent motives of the economic domain and the very rules of the markets at all.