From a business perspective, the immediate, already visible, fallout from the Turkish coup attempt is that the government will strengthen its position and its grip on all key institutions of society and the economy. There will be no teddy bears and candles on the street – Turkey has been efficient in eradicating all signs of disruption, whenever acts of violence or terrorism occur.
So stability will return very swiftly and this in itself may be good news. But there are a number of areas to watch closely.
First, domestic Turkish business is still very much dominated by large, family-controlled conglomerates. So far, despite some efforts to discipline these companies (for instance, with more or less trumped-up tax charges), the AKP government has not succeeded in controlling this part of the economy. Since many of these conglomerates operate a multitude of joint ventures and jointly-owned subsidiaries with many foreign multinationals, this is a space that warrants close monitoring.
Dirk Matten is the Hewlett-Packard chair in corporate social responsibility at the Schulich School of Business in Toronto and a visiting professor at Sabanci University in Istanbul.
Read Professor Dirk Matten’s complete article in The Globe and Mail here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-commentary/doing-business-in-turkey-heres-what-to-watch-for/article30955552/