ABSTRACT
For most of its history since 1923, Turkey has followed a development strategy and economic policies based on the dual beliefs that industrialization is essential and that the state needs to protect emerging Turkish industries from foreign competition. The founding elites of the Republic, motivated by a strong sense of mission to build a nation from the remnants of an exhausted and backward empire, extended their paternalism to economic policies. The state had the central role in economic policymaking and actively engaged in the industrialization process, not only indirectly by building the infrastructure, but also actively by building state-owned enterprises in key strategic industries.
