I do not see any alternative, mission-driven new capital.

When I left the old Radikal daily, it was the year 2001. It was a period of crisis. After a nine-year break, I am again writing at Radikal. And it is again a period of crisis. So, if we are giving a start again, let us recall what happened during the break. Let me begin with identifying what has changed since the year 2001.

Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO) started to publish the 500 Largest Industrial Enterprises series in 1979. In fact, you can write Turkey's history based on the ISO data. Let us identify what has changed in Turkey concerning industrial enterprises. There are two points to underline in this respect.

Regarding the annual value added provided, the share of the public sector in the 500 largest enterprises decreased from 40 percent in 2001 to less than 10 percent in 2009. Weight of the public sector in the daily economic operation has dropped significantly. Acceleration of privatization starting with late 2002 played a considerable role in this. Given that the share of the public sector was 52 percent in 1989, it is apparent that the vast majority of the largest 500 enterprises constitutes of private firms. Therefore, one major factor that attracts the attention when assessing the changes over the recent period would be the intensification of the weight of the private sector. Let this be he first point to underline.

The second point has to do with the relation between Istanbul and Ankara. In the recent period, Turkey started to enjoy new industrial production centers apart from the traditional ones, namely Istanbul, Bursa, Adana and Izmir. Kayseri, which had 7 enterprises within the largest 500 as of 1993, now has 14 enterprises. Gaziantep has proved even more successful: the number of enterprises of the province in the list rose from 2 to 16. There appears a trend toward the spread of industry across Anatolia. Nonetheless, this I guess is a result of the change in the form of Istanbul's industry. For instance, since it is more profitable to operate shopping malls in Istanbul, industrial facilities are transferred to neighboring districts or to Anatolia. Kocaeli is one clear example to this phenomenon. It, in fact, is a center which was created with the transfer of production plants from Istanbul due to the hike in land prices in the latter. When assessed with the production hinterland surrounding it, it is seen that the share of Istanbul in industrial production did not drop: Kocaeli, which had 7 enterprises within the largest 500 as of 1993 now has 31 enterprises in the list, despite the global crisis.

In fact, the spread of industry towards Anatolia has begun even before 2001, Turgut Ozal's reforms being the underlying factor. This is what figures reveal, whether you like it or not. Number of enterprises based in new industrial centers increased by 75 percent in 1989-2000 period and by 33 percent in the 2001-2009 period. To put it differently, though the weight of private sector increased over the last decade, Anatolia's weight was not outweighed it. And let this be the second point to emphasize.

To be honest, though I see some things are changing in Turkey I do not see any alternative, mission-driven new capital. I do not understand what mission-driven capital implies, either. If a cat's duty is to catch mice, a capitalist's duty is to make profit. And this after all has to do with mathematics.

The 2008 crisis have taught everyone in Anatolia how to say "Hey, this after all has to do with mathematics. And this is one of the changes witnessed in Turkey since 2001.

This commentary was published in Radikal daily on 19.10.2010