Competition by regulation in energy markets: the case of Turkey

A fundamental question facing the regulatory and competition authorities is whether to delegate competition policy issues of utilities to regulatory agencies or competition authorities. While, some countries prefer ‘light handed regulation’ by competition authorities, others grant substantial power to independent regulatory agencies. Turkey followed the liberalization wave in electricity with a regulatory reform in 2001. Recently, a slight shift of tide has appeared in previously liberalized markets. Electricity markets are the forefront example of this change of course. A similar trend is apparent in Turkey as well. Increasing pressures on prices and excess demand have created more reasons for active government involvement. As political factors weigh in, economic considerations take a secondary place in electricity markets. In order to show the tension between political and economic preferences, we use the Pareto and Kaldor-Hicks criteria of welfare economics metaphorically. This paper discusses the scope of competition policy in the Turkish electricity industry. We focus on the issue of regulatory governance. The absence of a well established institutional environment reduces the potential role of competition policy in the industry and increase political meddling in all segments of the Turkish electricity market. By looking into changes in prices, market power and new entry closely, we discuss the relative success of the regulatory reform in the electricity industry. We conclude by emphasizing the consequences of a passive competition authority in establishing a competitive electricity market.     

Proliferation of neopatrimonial domination in Turkey

ABSTRACT

Literature on Turkey’s post-2011 authoritarian turn – especially after the eruption of the 2013 nationwide Gezi Protests – adopts modern concepts such as ‘dictatorship’, ‘authoritarianism’, ‘totalitarianism’, ‘one-party government’, ‘party-state fusion’, and even ‘fascism’ mainly in order to pin down the nature of the Justice and Development Party (AKP, Turkish acronym) or depict the current character of Turkey’s regime. Through engaging the pre-modern concept of neopatrimonialism, which is derived from Max Weber’s concept of patrimonialism, this paper argues that Turkey’s encounter with authoritarianism is deeply associated with the proliferation of neopatrimonial domination, into which the legacy of patronage politics, fracture of security power, and the metastasis of crony capitalism have been conflated. This article argues that neopatrimonial features have always, to a degree, marked state-society relations in Turkey. Furthermore, this article suggests neopatrimonial characteristics started to dominate Turkey’s modern legal structure under the AKP, which led to a state crisis culminating in the 2016 attempted coup. However, despite the fact that neopatrimonialism cannot be argued as a pathological deviation from modern-legal domination, this paper concludes that tension exists between the crony capitalism-based economic model of neopatrimonalism and Turkey’s decades-long market-based capitalism.     

Beyond silence and voice: gender,sexuality and antimilitarism in Turkey and Israel

Turkey and Israel project two distinct military regimes which construct gender and sexuality in specific ways as part of their respective security agendas. Despite the differences, however, both entitle women and LGBTQs to certain exemptions from the military service, and in doing so silence their antimilitarist activism. Women and LGBTQs counter this process through their acts of conscientious objection, through which they claim a voice in matters of militarism, security and war. While doing so, however, they reproduce a dichotomous conceptualisation of silence and voice, which falls short of explaining their agency as well as its outcomes. Drawing on a comparative analysis, I argue that a more nuanced understanding of agency necessitates deconstructing the dichotomy between silence and voice, each of which may have multiple meanings, connotations and consequences. Whereas silent acts of grey objection do not always point to a lack of agency and resistance, or domination, and may indeed create change; voice and visibility that follow their declared acts of objection may entail costs and loss of agency, in that not only does it come at the expense of the masculinisation/militarisation of their acts but may also result in the immediate deterioration of their rights to refuse.     

China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) development projects and entrepreneurial potential of locals

This research explores a very important issue arising from the initiation of China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Pakistan, as the major impact seems to be focused towards small businesses and how they will cope in this competitive market once Chinese businesses enter in the country. According to scholars and officials, CPEC will generate several business opportunities for the local Pakistani community. However, studies related to the CPEC project are limited and only focused on the development of the CPEC project in various aspects alone. The existing study examined the local entrepreneur's attitude and intention in the context of CPEC using a sample of 255 survey questionnaires. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Data were gathered from the existing business community in Karachi, Pakistan. The results validated most of the hypotheses showing positive attitude towards entrepreneurs and intention towards CPEC development project. Specifically, local transportation and accessibility of cities show a significant relationship with a positive attitude. Similarly, the attitude of entrepreneurs also shows a positive relationship with entrepreneur's intention towards CPEC development projects. Findings have important theoretical and practical implications for policymakers of CPEC in creating an overall entrepreneurial ecosystem.     

De-Europeanisation in Turkey: The Case of the Rule of Law

Abstract

This article investigates the political dynamics shaping the post-2010 ‘de-Europeanisation’ of Turkey’s judicial system, particularly regarding judicial independence and rule of law. The analysis suggests the limits of conventional Europeanisation accounts emphasising causal factors such as European Union (EU) conditionality and the ‘lock-in effects’ of liberal reforms due to the benefits of EU accession. The article argues that the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP’s) bid for political hegemony resulted in the reversal of rule of law reforms. De-Europeanisation is discussed in terms of both legislative changes and the government’s observed discourse shift.     

The contested capacity of the Indian state

State capacity is often seen as simply the resources and capabilities of state organizations to perform those functions that are seen as essential to monopolizing coercion, maintaining legitimacy, and providing key public and social goods. As such, it is often conceptualized as value-neutral and comparable across national contexts. By contrast, this article posits that in the Indian context, state capacity is a politically contested concept, because there is deep and enduring political conflict in India over the appropriate roles and related capabilities of state power. This conflict is grounded in disagreements between those who wish to use the state as a tool to transform society and those who see it as a means to preserve and protect social relations. As a result of this conflict, the state in India is not weak or captured but internally divided and thus disarticulated. This article demonstrates these dynamics through an examination of state intervention in the statist and post-liberalization political economy of India.     

Rare and Severe Maxillofacial Injury Due to Tear Gas Capsules: Report of Three Cases

Tear gases are used by police or armed forces for control of riots or social events or by the general population for private self‐defense. These agents are used widely throughout the world, but some harmful effects have reported. In addition, despite well‐defined chemical side effects documented in the literature, data are insufficient regarding mechanical injury due to tear gas capsules. We report three cases of severe maxillofacial injury in patients who had these capsules fired from tear gas guns directly to their faces. The capsules penetrated the patients' faces, causing potentially fatal injuries. To our knowledge, reports of this kind of injury related to tear gas capsules are very rare in the literature. In conclusion, tear gas guns may be very dangerous in terms of human health and they may cause severe injuries, especially when they are not used according to strict guidelines.