IKV, in cooperation with Protection of Consumers and Competition Association (TÜRDER) organised a seminar entitled “International Conference for Protection of Consumers and Competition” on 14 March 2017 in Istanbul.

The seminar was supported by DMW International Diplomats Union and Turkish Northern Cyprus Turkish Chamber of Commerce (TNCTCC). During the event, detailed information was given regarding the Consumer Protection Law No: 6502 in force in Turkey and the improvement made to the legislation on consumers compared to the prevision law.

The seminar started with the opening speech by President of TÜRDER and TNCTCC Assoc. Prof. Uğur Özgöker, IKV Secretary-General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas and President of Competition Authority Prof. Ömer Torlak.

At the opening speech, Assoc. Prof. Uğur Özgöker drew attention to the fact that the Turkish Government was given an official duty to protect consumers and competition under the 1982 Constitution. Assoc. Prof. Özgöker underlined the transformative role of the Customs Union during the 1990s on Turkey’s consumer and competition law. In addition, Assoc. Prof. Özgöker stated that the Law of Competition and the Law of Consumer are complementary.

In her speech, IKV Secretary-General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas informed the audience about IKV’s activities regarding the modernisation process of the Customs Union and seminar series which will be held in chambers of commerce and industry in Turkey in the upcoming months.

President of Competition Authority Prof. Ömer Torlak in his speech mentioned that except the state aids, Turkey is on track in terms of the alignment of Turkish legislation with EU acquis. In his speech, Prof. Torlak underlined the need for an effective market surveillance mechanism in Turkey in line with European standards. Prof. Torlak added that the competition policy should be seen as an essential tool in creating a well-functioning market. Regarding the global trends, he also addressed the importance of the role of intellectual property rights and patent-related issues in information technologies.

Following the opening remarks, the first session of the event was chaired by Chairman of Istanbul Branch of Competition Association Atty. Kemal Erol. As the first speaker of the session, Ministry for EU Affairs Specialist Fatma Özyurt Demir gave a speech on EU’s key legislation related to the protection of consumers and competition. Demir stated that the framework of the Law No: 6502 was laid down by taking into account EU Directives. Demir also mentioned that Turkey’s alignment with the consumer protection is recently advanced. Demir also added that a draft legislation regarding the food security is under consideration.

As the second speaker of the session, Deputy General Director for Protection of Consumers and Market Surveillance Mikayil Kılıç stressed that 23 regulations were published in the Official Gazette after the Law No: 6502 came into force. Kılıç further added that according to the Law, consumers have the right to withdraw from contracts within 14 days without giving any reasons. Under the Law, Kılıç said that consumers may exercise the right of requesting free of charge credit cards. Kılıç also gave information about the numbers of free of charge credit cards, which increased from 4.9 percent in 2014 to 7.4 percent in February 2016. Among the complaints received by the the Arbitration Committees for consumer problems, the most complaint-intense area is bank transactions (74.2 percent) followed by defective goods in the second position (18.9 percent) rising from the application of the Law.

Deputy Director General at T.R. Prime Ministry Undersecretariat of Treasury Atilla Yardımcı in his speech drew attention to Article 39 of the Decision No. 1/95 of the EU-Turkey Association Council which is related to the legislation compatible with the EU in the field of competition rules. Under the Article, Turkey needs to fulfill the requirements of competition law with a view to achieving the economic integration sought by the Customs Union. Deputy Director General Yardımcı informed the audience about the state aid under the Law No. 6015 on the Monitoring and Control of State Aid which does not cover agriculture, fisheries and service sectors. Deputy Director General Yardımcı stated that the Law basically aims to promote the economic development of areas where the standards of living is low compared to the EU and there is high unemployment rates; to promote culture and heritage conservation; to promote the execution of an important projects of common interests and to accomplish structural adjustments between Turkey and the EU. 

Following the first session of the seminar, the second session was chaired by Chairman of Consumers Association Levent Küçük. As the first speaker of the second session, Chairman of Federation of Consumer Organisations Fuat Engin critisied that most of complaints have not reached a solution in Turkey, even after the Law in force. To him, this is because consumer organisations cannot actively participate in the decision-making process and added that Turkey needs to create an information centre for enhancing the functionality of the the Arbitration Committees. Engin also expressed concern over the lack of a monitoring mechanism for banking sector. In this point, he said that 50 million card holders are affected by the compounding rate in Turkey.

Chairman of Association of Consumer Protection Haşmet Atahan underlined that the most important issue in the field of consumer protection is finance-related problems. Atahan emphasised that consumer organisations should be institutionalized in Turkey.

Lastly, Honorary Chairman of Consumers Association Engin Başaran noted that consumers organisations had an active role in decision-making process in the period of 1990s. She stressed that the Consumer Council convenes once a year and the meetings under the Council take only one day, especially since 2006, whilst taking three days in the previous years. In addition, she highlighted that current legislations in Turkey cannot respond to global rules. “A strong consumer means a strong economy and increases level of trust in a market” Başaran said.