“Cooperatives are the key actors of local development”

 

Speaking at the debut of 2025-2029 Türkiye Cooperative Strategy and Action Plan, President Erdoğan said: “Cooperatives have become the key actors of local development in many fields, from agriculture to industry, women entrepreneurship to energy. 62 thousand cooperatives, incorporating over 6.5 million citizens, are currently active in our country. We view this as a precious achievement on the part of commercial and economic life in Türkiye.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a speech at the debut of 2025-2029 Türkiye Cooperative Strategy and Action Plan in Istanbul.

“COOPERATIVES HAVE BECOME MORE VISIBLE NOT ONLY IN TÜRKİYE BUT ACROSS THE WORLD AS WELL”

President Erdoğan said: “As Türkiye, we indeed have a quite dynamic commercial life. Our people raise, produce and sell. All of our 81 provinces endeavor to deliver their products of strenuous efforts to the whole world. Our sisters, our youth and our producers join their forces and overcome obstacles together under the roof of cooperatives. They win collectively. Cooperatives have become the key actors of local development in many fields, from agriculture to industry, women entrepreneurship to energy. 62 thousand cooperatives, incorporating over 6.5 million citizens, are currently active in our country. We view this as a precious achievement on the part of commercial and economic life in Türkiye. Let me add, however, that we cannot say we are at the desired level in this field considering that there are over 165 million cooperative partners and 250 thousand cooperatives in the European Union.”

President Erdoğan went on: “Another noteworthy point is that in recent years, cooperatives have become more visible not only in Türkiye but across the world as well. Local producers, who don’t want to get crushed under the cogs of wild capitalism, take shelter in cooperatives as a safe harbor. Let alone individuals and macro-corporations, even companies that are big at a local level are unable to compete with global companies that outstrip many countries in budget, network and technological capabilities. We witness that these companies, which become a monopoly in certain areas, swallow the small ones with their aggressive price policies. This increasingly scary situation is the underlying factor behind the emergence of cooperatives.”

President Erdoğan continued: “The following figures are the most concrete signs of the existence of a global pursuit: There are 3 million cooperatives worldwide according to the data of the International Cooperative Alliance. 12 percent of the world population is a cooperative partner. Cooperatives’ combined turnover is in excess of 2.4 trillion dollars. In this regard, we consider it a very appropriate decision that the United Nations declared 2025 the International Year of Cooperatives. As the government, we attach special importance to promoting the cooperative culture by taking advantage of this meaningful year.”

“THE COOPERATIVE STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN OF TÜRKİYE WILL TAKE OUR COUNTRY’S VISION FOR COOPERATIVES ONE STEP FURTHER”

“The priority of the action and strategy plan we unveiled back in 2012 was to solve the problems related to the legislation and to remedy the disorderliness. We have thankfully made significant progress in this direction; yet, there is still a long distance ahead to cover. We will inshallah achieve this with the new plan covering 2025-2029,” President Erdoğan noted.  

President Erdoğan stressed: “I believe that the Cooperative Strategy and Action Plan of Türkiye will take our country’s vision for cooperatives one step further. The main purpose of the strategy document is to create a more favorable environment for cooperatives, bolster the confidence in the industry, and render cooperatives more efficient, effective, sustainable, competitive and innovative.”

“The plan is comprised of two goals, five targets and 23 activities as well as their performance indicators centered on five policies. The strategy document features many objectives extending from digitalization to new types of cooperatives, from adaptation of the legislation to current developments to the enhancement of cooperatives’ corporate and financial capacities. I wholeheartedly congratulate those who have provided contributions to the plan, which will guide Turkish cooperatives for the next five years,” President Erdoğan added.