Babacan says they made a mistake with privatization

According to media reports dated September 4, 2025: DEVA Party Chairman Ali Babacan, who was a guest on the 'Boş Koltuk' program hosted by journalist Fatih Altaylı, who is currently in prison, made striking confessions.

Babacan, a former Minister of Finance, said: “Did we not make mistakes? For example, there are organizations that became monopolies after being privatized. For example, gas distribution companies, electricity distribution companies… If we were to conduct a retrospective accounting of the privatization of those organizations, it was not good.

Unfortunately, after privatization, they did not use their monopoly power well. Those companies could not be properly audited. Citizen satisfaction with the service remained limited. I think, for example, if we had foreseen that these things would happen from the beginning, perhaps it would have been better if those privatizations had never been carried out and they had remained under state control.”

It is necessary to ask Babacan: “Is it not necessary to see that privatization is one of the root causes of the collapse we are currently experiencing in terms of the economy and income distribution?”

What was the origin and purpose of privatization?

If you wish, let us also remind Babacan of the following: “Privatization emerged in Western countries, especially from the beginning of the 1980s, due to reasons such as the shrinking of domestic and foreign markets and the intensification of competition among industrialized countries, leading to stagnation and even decline in the economy. There were serious drops in the profitability of monopoly capital. To overcome this crisis, the Reagan administration in the United States and the Thatcher administration in Britain first declared war on the social state in their own countries. In this context;

•Efforts were made to render labor unions ineffective.

•Wages and public expenditures for social purposes were reduced.

•Income taxes on the wealthy were lowered.

•Public institutions with fixed profit margins began to be privatized.

However, the new distribution policies implemented and the resulting shift in economic balance in favor of capital at a higher rate could not eliminate the stagnation. Therefore, for the resolution of the crisis, the transfer of capital, goods, and service stocks to other countries was carried out, but in essence, the implementation of “neoliberal policies”, which is nothing more than “the control and seizure of the added value produced by peripheral or developing countries at a higher level than before”, was put into effect.

One of the most important applications of neoliberal policies was the privatization of public companies in peripheral nations using various tools.

In peripheral countries, privatization was also introduced as a tool for downsizing the state. With this, it was intended for the state to withdraw from three main areas of intervention. These areas were mainly:

•The state's production of market goods,

•The state's rule-making function in regulating the market,

•Public services related to the state's social welfare role.

Thus, the state's withdrawal from these areas was achieved, and new profit areas were opened for monopoly capital. By distancing the state from its social nature, a consumer relationship was created instead of a state-citizen relationship, and the citizen's bond with the state was reduced to the lowest level.”

What were the main functions of State Economic Enterprises (KİTs) in Turkey?

The KİTs (State Economic Enterprises), which were the target of privatization, were the products of the Republican era, which was established through the struggle against imperialism in Turkey. They were established as a necessity of the approach that the independence won in the political sphere could be protected through development in the economic and social spheres.

The main functions of KİTs in Turkey were as follows:

•Spreading industry across the country,

•Closing the gap and delay in the production of intermediate goods and production goods,

•Creating employment,

•Transforming national resources into production through planning,

•Ensuring balance in income distribution and social justice through regional development,

•Creating new resources for the public.

By fulfilling these functions, KİTs also trained the workforce in the production process and spread modern living conditions throughout the country. In short, they both increased the country's production power and consolidated Turkey's unity.

The existence of KİTs was also important in terms of enabling citizens to participate in the political and economic decision-making process. In this way, the influence of powerful capital circles on the public was attempted to be balanced to certain degrees.

Privatized KİTs Must Be Reactivated!

Let us reiterate: The main reason for the economic collapse we are living through is the economic-political preferences referred to as the externally dependent free-market economy.

If even a neoliberal like Babacan expresses the wrongness of privatization, what should the option be?

THE OPTION IS NOT “WE WILL MANAGE BETTER.”

I BELIEVE THE FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION THAT OUR PEOPLE SHOULD ASK OPPOSITION POLITICIANS WHO GO OUT INTO THE FIELD SHOULD BE: “WHEN YOU COME TO POWER, WITH WHICH POLICIES WILL YOU INCREASE PRODUCTION AND MAKE INCOME DISTRIBUTION MORE BALANCED? WILL YOU REACTIVATE THE PRIVATIZED KİTs?”