SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The neoliberal restructuring of the banks and banking sector in Turkey has been anything but linear. Moreover, bank ownership continues to be diversified between state, private domestic and foreign owners. This is not to say that significant, even structural, changes have not occurred. Indeed, there have been major quantitative and qualitative shifts since the 2001 financial crisis in Turkey. The 2001 financial crisis in Turkey is rooted in the political decisions taken since the society's post-1980s neoliberal transformation, which have generated new and escalating economic and political instabilities. The contemporary banking sector in Turkey is characterized by varying forms and degrees of increased concentrations. These include ownership, asset concentration, and institutional size. Although converting short-term foreign liabilities into the long-term loans in domestic currency could finance growth in the economy via the banking system, maturity and currency mismatch increased the risk of crisis.