The insecurities of Turkey’s deep state
Turkey’s deep state is not only harmful to that country’s democratic regime but is a serious burden on its economy. In this age of globalization, it has raised obstacles to the purchase of a Turkish bank by a Greek one. According to reports in the Turkish press, the reason the purchase was rejected was that a diplomat who had served in the Central Information Service was a non-executive member on the Greek bank’s board. Throughout the Western world, public sector executives have always, after taking retirement, become board members of business firms. The former German chancellor, for example, became the chairman of the board of the NEGP consortium, the firm that is building the Northern European gas pipeline. A person’s previous position has never been an obstacle to economic transactions. The rejection by Turkey’s Bank Supervisory Authority would be understandable if there was a financial aspect to the issue. However, when political criteria prevail over economic decisions, it shows that Turkey’s deep state is a long way from the European Union, which, at that level at least, has overcome its fears of the past.
