ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the mechanisms by which Turkish authorities implemented import substituting industrialization (ISI) in the post-1960 period. It discusses the intellectual, institutional and practical contexts of the industrialization drive and aims to understanding the interplay between the economic preferences of groups and those of state institutions. Politics provided the main impetus for ISI. The message was carried by a coalition of interests which had emerged on the eve of the 1960 coup and strongly believed that the solution to Turkey's chronic problems lay in industrialization. ISI's strong nationalist overtones was attractive to both the military and civilian bureaucracies. While the political reasons for adopting an ISI-driven strategy were compelling, the economic conditions made it equally imperative. The economic argument for ISI can be traced to two reasons: the lackluster growth, and the chronic balance of payments deficits of the 1950s.
