Economy of Turkey in the context of "European Union Customs Union"

The automotive industry in Turkey plays an important role in the manufacturing sector of the Turkish economy. The companies operating in the Turkish automotive sector are mainly located in the Marmara region, especially Bursa.

In 2023, Turkey produced 1,486,393 motor vehicles, ranking as the 13th largest producer in the world (production peaked at 1,695,731 motor vehicles in 2017, when Turkey also ranked 13th). Turkish automotive companies like TEMSA, Otokar and BMC are among the world's largest van, bus and truck manufacturers. Togg, or Turkey's Automobile Joint Venture Group Inc. is the first all-electric vehicle company of Turkey. With a cluster of car-makers and parts suppliers, the Turkish automotive sector has become an integral part of the global network of production bases, exporting more than $35 billion worth of motor vehicles and components. In 2017, nearly 85% of exports went to Europe. Global car manufacturers with production plants include Tofaş, Oyak-Renault, Hyundai Assan Otomotiv, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Turkey, Ford Otosan.

Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel (Turkish: [sylejˈman deˈmiɾæl]; 1 November 1924 – 17 June 2015) was a Turkish politician, engineer, and statesman who served as the president of Turkey from 1993 to 2000. He previously served as the prime minister of Turkey seven times between 1965 and 1993. He was the leader of the Justice Party (AP) from 1964 to 1980 and the leader of the True Path Party (DYP) from 1987 to 1993.

Having been identified as a potential future prime minister by Adnan Menderes, Demirel was elected leader of the Justice Party in 1964 and managed to bring down the government of İsmet İnönü in 1965 despite not being a Member of Parliament. He supported the government of Suat Hayri Ürgüplü until his party won a parliamentary majority in 1965. He became the first prime minister born in the Republic of Turkey. Claiming that his Justice Party was the successor of the banned Democrat Party, he was re-elected as premier in 1969 by winning a parliamentary majority for a second time. Despite his economic reforms which stabilised inflation, he resigned after his budget was blocked by parliament, but formed his third government shortly after. His premiership came to an end following the 1971 Turkish coup d'état.

Halil Turgut Özal (13 October 1927 – 17 April 1993) was a Turkish politician, bureaucrat, engineer and statesman who served as the president of Turkey from 1989 to 1993. He previously served as the prime minister of Turkey from 1983 to 1989 as the leader of the Motherland Party. He was the deputy prime minister of Turkey in the military government of Bülend Ulusu between 1980 and 1982.

After working briefly at the World Bank in the United States and as a university lecturer, Özal became the general secretary and later the leader of the main miners' trade union of Turkey in 1979, serving as a chief negotiator during large-scale industrial action in 1977. He unsuccessfully stood for Parliament in the 1977 general election as a National Salvation Party (MSP) candidate from İzmir. In 1979, he became an undersecretary to Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel's minority government until the 1980 military coup. As an undersecretary, he played a major role in developing economic reforms, known as the 24 January decisions, which paved the way for greater neoliberalism in the Turkish economy. After the coup, he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey responsible for the economy in Bülend Ulusu's government and continued to implement economic reforms. He resigned in 1982 following disagreements over economic policy.

From 1978 until 2025, the Republic of Turkey was in an armed conflict with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) (Kurdish: Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê) as well as its allied insurgent groups, both Kurdish and non-Kurdish. The initial core demand of the PKK was its separation from Turkey to create an independent Kurdistan. Later on, the PKK abandoned separatism in favor of autonomy and/or greater political and cultural rights for Kurds inside the Republic of Turkey.

Although most of the conflict took place in Northern Kurdistan, which corresponded with southeastern Turkey, the Kurdish-Turkish conflict spread to many other regions. The PKK's presence in Iraqi Kurdistan resulted in the Turkish Armed Forces carrying out frequent ground incursions and air and artillery strikes in the region, and its influence in Syrian Kurdistan led to similar activity there. The conflict costed the economy of Turkey an estimated $300 to 450 billion, mostly in military costs. It also had negative effects on tourism in Turkey.

The Turkish economic crisis (Turkish: Türkiye ekonomik krizi), also known as Great Turkish Depression, is a financial and economic crisis in Turkey. It is characterized by the Turkish lira (TRY) plunging in value, high inflation, rising borrowing costs, and correspondingly rising loan defaults. The crisis was caused by the Turkish economy's excessive current account deficit and large amounts of private foreign-currency denominated debt.

Some analysts also stress the leveraging effects of the geopolitical frictions with the United States. Following the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who was arrested on espionage charges after the failed 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, the Trump administration exerted pressure towards Turkey by imposing further sanctions. The economic sanctions therefore doubled the tariffs on Turkey, as imported steel rises up to 50% and on aluminum to 20%. As a result, Turkish steel was priced out of the US market, which previously amounted to 13% of Turkey's total steel exports.