Partisan Figures Appointed To Boards Of Prominent Institutions

Following the revelation of widespread nepotism in appointments to jobs in the public service, the country is now discussing the appointment of pro-government figures and openly partisan persons to top positions in state-run and private companies for substantial salaries, regardless of if they are qualified for such positions.

Although the Turkish public is only familiar with a few examples of government-favored appointees in public enterprises from the media, patronage has been a huge part of public appointments in recent years. In spite of the fact that Turkey traditionally has a clientelism system through which past governments or military administrations tried to maintain their power in key positions at both state institutions and companies in the past, favoritism has reached unprecedented levels under Justice and Development Party (AK Party) rule. Today, pro-government figures and bureaucrats are appointed to the boards of state enterprises and public companies and are paid high salaries for these positions.

Some of the appointees even take positions on more than one company board and double or triple their salaries.

Among the companies and institutions where the government has recently placed pro-government figures and partisan bureaucrats on boards of directors are the country's partially government-owned flagship Turkish Airlines (THY); leading telecommunication services provider Türk Telekom; the country's sole exchange entity, Borsa İstanbul (BIST); leading mobile operator Turkcell; the Turkish Football Federation (TFF); numerous State Economic Enterprises (KİT); the state-owned Halkbank; Ziraat Bankası, Eximbank; Vakıfbank and state-owned real estate investment company, Emlak Konut GYO.

On the board of Turk Telekom, where the Turkish treasury owns 30 percent of shares, Fatih Kasırga, Secretary General of the Presidency; Yiğit Bulut, economic adviser to President Recep Tayip Erdoğan; İbrahim Eren, a high school friend of Erdoğan's son, Bilal Erdoğan and Abdullah Tivnikli, a pro-government businessman serve as board members. Three current and one former government bureaucrat also work in different positions in the management board of the company.

Likewise, Arzu Akalın Erdoğan's lawyer; İlker Aycı, a former vice president of the AK Party's İstanbul branch and Naci Ağbal, the Finance Ministry's undersecretary, are board members at national carrier THY.

İbrahim Turhan, former vice president of the Central Bank of Turkey, currently holds the position of president at BIST while Seyit Ahmet Işkın, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's executive assistant, and Talat Ulusever, a former deputy candidate for the AK Party, already serve as board members at BIST.

Similarly, two former Cabinet ministers occupy are members of the board at Turkcell while Vakıfbank, Ziraat Bankası, Halkbank, Eximbank, TFF and Emlak Konut GYO employ either former AK Party deputies or people who have relationships with deputies, former party candidates for office and members of provincial branches of the party.

Commenting on the appointments, İdris Bal, a former AK Party deputy and the head of the new Democratic Progress Party (DGP),said those who will not be deputy candidates for the AK Party in the coming elections wish to benefit from the government's power and rely on appointments like these. Nevertheless, Bal added, the deputies who make money unfairly will face trial sooner or later.

In retrospect, a very similar mindset was in existence for the administration after the country's Feb. 28, 1997 unarmed military intervention that overthrew a coalition government at the time. After the coup, most of the private lenders in the country were forced to have retired generals on their boards. This was not because the companies found it convenient to benefit from these generals' vast experience in trading or banking, but rather it was a direct outcome of an atmosphere of military pressure.

However, in resistance to the trend of giving patronage that has engulfed the government, the board members of the Turkish Satellite Communications Company (Türksat), some of whom are advisors to President Erdoğan, including Mustafa Varank, Şenol Kazancı and Maksut Serim, have recently been obliged to pay back the excess part of their salaries that they were illegally paid for years according to Court of Accounts reports.

Kamil Arlı/İsa Sezen, İstanbul (Cihan/Today's Zaman)