Turkish Industry and Business Association

The Turkish Industry and Business Association, commonly known as TÜSİAD, is an independent, voluntary, non-governmental business organization founded in 1971. It brings together chief executives, senior executives, and companies from Turkey’s major industrial and service sectors. Although it is not a corporation or consumer-facing product brand, TÜSİAD functions as one of Turkey’s most influential business-policy institutions, using research, public statements, international engagement, and structured dialogue with government and civil society to represent the interests of private enterprise. TÜSİAD’s membership includes companies associated with some of Turkey’s largest private-sector groups and internationally active enterprises. The association states that its more than 4,000 member companies collectively account for approximately half of Turkey’s value added, around 80 percent of the country’s foreign-trade volume, more than half of private-sector employment, and roughly 80 percent of corporate tax revenues. These figures describe the economic weight of its membership rather than TÜSİAD’s own revenue or commercial output. The organization promotes a policy framework centered on participatory democracy, a competitive market economy, environmental sustainability, universal freedoms, and human rights. It supports independent studies and policy discussions on economic, social, political, technological, and international issues affecting Turkey. Its work is organized through board-led round tables and 36 working groups, allowing members to develop positions on subjects such as macroeconomics, European Union relations, digital transformation, energy, climate policy, education, employment, and governance. TÜSİAD is headquartered in Istanbul and maintains representative offices in Ankara, Brussels, Washington, D.C., Paris, Berlin, Beijing, and London. This network reflects a strategy that combines domestic policy advocacy with international public diplomacy. The association participates in international business networks, including the OECD’s Business and Industry Advisory Committee, the Global Business Coalition, and BusinessEurope. It has also developed partnerships and relationships with institutions such as the Brookings Institution, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. In Turkish public life, TÜSİAD is generally associated with secular, Western-oriented, internationally connected business circles. It has often been compared with MÜSİAD, which is more closely associated with conservative Muslim entrepreneurs. TÜSİAD supported Turkey’s European Union accession ambitions during the early 2000s and engaged with the government of the Justice and Development Party when both sides shared an interest in European integration. As the accession process weakened after the middle of that decade, the association’s relationship with the government became more openly contentious. It has criticized measures that it viewed as weakening institutional independence, market competition, or the rule of law, while continuing to cooperate with public authorities on economic matters. The association has periodically become a target of criticism from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and other government figures, particularly when its representatives commented on economic conditions, corporate governance, or the division of authority between the presidency and the cabinet. At the same time, TÜSİAD has generally presented itself as a policy-oriented institution rather than a political party or opposition organization. Following the attempted coup of July 2016, it publicly supported Turkey’s constitutional order and conducted international outreach designed to reassure investors and explain the country’s economic and political situation. Its influence derives from the scale of its membership, its research capacity, and its access to domestic and international policy networks rather than from the sale of goods or services.

TÜSİAD was established in 1971 as a voluntary association for Turkey’s major industrial and business interests. From its beginning, it sought to articulate the perspective of private enterprise on national economic policy while also addressing broader questions of public welfare, institutional development, and modernization. Its membership developed around senior figures from prominent Turkish industrial and service companies, giving the association an unusually strong connection to the country’s largest private-sector groups. During the late twentieth century, TÜSİAD became an important channel through which business leaders debated economic liberalization, international trade, competitiveness, and Turkey’s relationship with Western institutions. The association’s successive presidents came from leading business families and corporate groups, reflecting its role as a high-level forum rather than a mass-membership trade organization. Its agenda expanded beyond narrow commercial concerns to include democracy, legal institutions, civil liberties, education, social development, and Turkey’s place in Europe. In the early 2000s, TÜSİAD worked closely with the newly elected Justice and Development Party government on the shared objective of advancing Turkey’s European Union accession process. The organization supported reforms associated with European integration and is also credited with helping create conditions for Turkish public support for the Annan Plan concerning Cyprus. This period demonstrated TÜSİAD’s preference for engaging governments when policy goals overlapped, even though the association remained formally independent and non-governmental. The relationship became more difficult after 2006, as Turkey’s EU accession process lost momentum and the government’s orientation moved away from the earlier reform trajectory. TÜSİAD increasingly used public statements, research, and international engagement to express concerns about democratic standards, institutional checks and balances, market competition, corporate governance, and the broader investment environment. The association’s political profile also became more visible because it was widely identified with secular and pro-Western business circles, while MÜSİAD represented a more conservative entrepreneurial constituency. TÜSİAD responded to the changing environment by building a stronger public-diplomacy presence outside Turkey. It opened or maintained representative offices in European capitals, Washington, D.C., and other international centers, enabling it to communicate with businesses, policymakers, think tanks, civil-society groups, and investors. This international network complemented its domestic policy work and helped frame Turkey’s economic and political developments for foreign audiences. The association has periodically clashed with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and government officials. In 2014, Erdoğan criticized TÜSİAD’s approach to engaging the executive branch after then-president Haluk Dinçer said that the organization dealt with the prime minister and relevant ministers rather than the president. In 2015, Erdoğan again criticized the association in connection with comments on economic conditions. In 2016, TÜSİAD opposed a proposed measure that would have broadened government power to appoint trustees to company boards; the contested provision was later removed. Following the attempted coup on July 15, 2016, TÜSİAD combined support for Turkey’s constitutional order with an international communications effort. It placed advertisements in major newspapers and held meetings with American and European think tanks, nongovernmental organizations, and public officials. The purpose was to present Turkey as economically viable and politically stable and to reduce concerns among international investors and partners. Today, TÜSİAD operates as a research, convening, advocacy, and international-representation organization. Its activities are organized through board-led round tables and 36 working groups. The association maintains its headquarters in Istanbul and representative offices in Ankara, Brussels, Washington, Paris, Berlin, Beijing, and London. It participates in global business networks including the OECD Business and Industry Advisory Committee, the Global Business Coalition, and BusinessEurope. Its continuing importance comes from the scale of the companies it represents, its ability to produce policy analysis, and its position between the Turkish private sector, government institutions, and international economic networks.

• 2016

  Opposition to proposed trustee powers

  [1]Turkish Industry and Business Associationen.wikipedia.org

  TÜSİAD criticized proposed legislation that would have increased government authority over the appointment of company trustees; the disputed provision was later removed.

• 2016

  International outreach after attempted coup

  [1]Turkish Industry and Business Associationen.wikipedia.org

  The association conducted a prominent international communications and stakeholder-engagement effort following the July 15 attempted coup.

• 2006

  Relationship with government becomes more contentious

  [1]Turkish Industry and Business Associationen.wikipedia.org

  As Turkey’s EU accession process deteriorated and government policy shifted, the association’s relationship with the ruling administration became more strained.

• 2000

  Expanded European integration advocacy

  [1]Turkish Industry and Business Associationen.wikipedia.org

  During the early 2000s, TÜSİAD coordinated with the government around the shared objective of advancing Turkey’s European Union accession process.

• 1971

  Association founded

  [1]Turkish Industry and Business Associationen.wikipedia.org

  TÜSİAD was established as an independent, voluntary, non-governmental organization representing Turkish industrial and business interests.

An independent, secular, internationally oriented business association representing large Turkish industrial and service companies and advocating market competition, democratic institutions, European integration, sustainability, and universal freedoms.

• Research

  Policy research and reports

  TÜSİAD produces or supports independent research and policy analysis on economic, social, political, and international issues affecting Turkey. These materials are intended to inform public debate, guide business-sector positions, and provide evidence for discussions with government institutions, international organizations, and civil society.

• Business advocacy

  Working groups and round tables

  The association organizes its substantive work through board-led round tables and 36 working groups. These forums bring executives and subject specialists together to develop positions on issues such as competitiveness, regulation, sustainability, European relations, employment, technology, and governance.

• International affairs

  International representation

  TÜSİAD operates representative offices in Ankara, Brussels, Washington, D.C., Paris, Berlin, Beijing, and London. The offices support engagement with foreign governments, businesses, think tanks, investors, and civil-society organizations and form part of the association’s public-diplomacy strategy.

• 2016Post-coup international investor reassurance campaign

  United States · Europe · Turkey

  After the attempted coup in July 2016, TÜSİAD placed advertisements in major international newspapers and engaged with think tanks, nongovernmental organizations, officials, and other international stakeholders. The effort sought to defend Turkey’s international image and reassure investors about the country’s economic and political continuity.

  Outcome. The campaign provided a coordinated private-sector message in support of Turkey’s constitutional order and continued international economic engagement.

  Source
• European Union accession advocacy

  Turkey · European Union

  During the early 2000s, TÜSİAD promoted Turkey’s European Union accession ambitions through policy advocacy and engagement with domestic and European stakeholders.

  Outcome. The association became an important private-sector supporter of Turkey’s European orientation, although the accession process later lost momentum.

  Source

• 2016

  Opposition to expanded corporate trustee appointment powersOther

  Background

  A proposed law included a provision that would have increased government authority to appoint trustees to company boards.

  Action taken

  TÜSİAD publicly criticized the proposed provision as a threat to corporate governance and private-sector autonomy.

  Aftermath

  The controversial provision was subsequently removed from the legislation.

  Source

• 2016

  International public-diplomacy response after attempted coupStrategy

  Background

  The attempted coup created concerns among international investors and foreign institutions about Turkey’s political stability and economic outlook.

  Action taken

  TÜSİAD launched international communications and high-level engagement with foreign think tanks, NGOs, officials, and business stakeholders.

  Aftermath

  The association positioned itself as a private-sector channel for explaining Turkey’s situation and supporting continued international economic engagement.

  Source

1. 1Turkish Industry and Business Associationen.wikipedia.org
2. 2TÜSİAD official websitetusiad.org