Competition Law Highlights
01: Mergers and Acquisitions


2 In terms of Transactions related to Türkiye:
– In 94 of the examined transactions, the target company is based in Türkiye and the total transaction value of these transactions is TRY 162 billion 555 million excluding the privatisations.
– It is observed that the highest transaction value is related to the sector of “animal production”, and the two sectors with the highest number of transactions are “generation, transmission and distribution of the electrical energy” and “computer programming, consultancy and related activities”. The main field of activity with the highest transaction volume is “agriculture, forestry and fishing” with TRY 36.8 billion, followed by “transport and storage” with TRY 34.3 billion.
– 35 merger and acquisition transactions are related to investments by foreign investors in companies based in Türkiye.
When the Report is examined, it is seen that the sector of “computer programming, consultancy and related activities”, which is one of the sectors that constitute the majority of the notified transactions regarding the transactions related to Türkiye in 2023, is also one of the sectors with the highest number of investments made by foreigners in terms of transaction value within the framework of investments made by foreigners worldwide. Moreover, while the total transaction value of all transactions is around TRY 57 trillion 524 billion, TRY 57 trillion 361 billion of this amount is composed of foreign transactions in which all parties are foreign. Although the number of examined transactions are decreased by approximately 12% compared to the previous year, it is noteworthy that the transaction value is the highest level of the last 10 years in Turkish lira basis and increased by 57% in US dollars basis compared to the previous year.
B. Final Examinations (Phase II Reviews)
Dalsan – Saint-Gobain Decision
Dalsan – Saint-Gobain transaction was one of the transactions that the Board decided to take under final examination (Phase II review) in 2022.2 The interesting aspect of this file is that it was announced that the transaction was authorised 3 months after it was announced that it was under final examination. The reasoned decision3 was published in 2023, and it has been observed that the acquisition was authorised since there was no significant lessening of competition.

Migros – Ay-mar Decision
Another transaction related to the acquisition of the tenancy rights and fixed assets of 25 stores of Ay- mar Ticaret Ltd. Şti. located in Trabzon and Giresun by Migros Ticaret A.Ş. that was authorised as a result of the final examination and for which the reasoned decision has been published in 2023 is the acquisition of Ay-mar by Migros.4
Tofaş – Stellantis Decision
The application regarding the acquisition of the sole control of Stellantis Otomotiv Pazarlama A.Ş. by Tofaş Türk Otomobil Fabrikası A.Ş. is taken under final examination.5
C. Certain transactions notified / authorised in 2023
- ❖ Evyap – DP World
- ❖ Migros –
- B-online
- ❖ Pfizer Inc. – Seagen Inc.
- ❖ Doğan Portal – Liderform At Yarışları
- ❖ Bollore Logistics SE – CMA CGM SA
- ❖ BP Petrolleri – THY Opet Havacılık
- ❖ Altınbaş Petrol – Zeren Yatırım Holding
- ❖ Türk Ytong – Transpet Petrolcülük
- ❖ Activision Blizzard – Microsoft
- ❖ Alışan Lojistik – PSA BDP
- ❖ Trans Okyanus – Boğaziçi Ekspres – Savino del Bene – SDB Benelux
- ❖ MNG Kargo – DHL
- ❖ Atlas Tersanecilik – Desan Deniz İnşaat
D. Elon Musk’s Gun-Jumping Fine Has Left Its Mark On 2023
It has been decided to impose an administrative monetary fine at the rate of one thousandth of the gross income generated in Türkiye for the year 2022 to Elon R. Musk, due to the transaction regarding the acquisition of the sole control of Twitter Inc. by Elon R. Musk. In the decision, it was evaluated that Twitter, which is subject to the acquisition, is a digital platform
within the framework of its activities in the fields of social network, online advertising and provision of data licensing services, therefore, it is an undertaking included in the definition of the relevant “technology undertaking”, and it was determined that Elon R. Musk’s global turnover in the financial year 2021 exceeded three billion Turkish liras. In this framework, it has been decided to impose an administrative monetary fine due to the implementation of an acquisition transaction subject to authorization, without the authorization by the Board. In addition, since there is no horizontal or vertical overlap between the parties on a global scale and in terms of Türkiye, it was evaluated that effective competition would not be substantially reduced and 6 the acquisition transaction was authorized.
02: Investigations
Meta – Whatsapp
According to the recent decision7 of the Board, it has been ruled that the economic entity consisting of Meta and WhatsApp distorted competition by complicating activities of their competitors and creating an entry barrier to the relevant market by means of combining the data collected from Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp services. Meta and WhatsApp have jointly and severally been imposed with an administrative fine of TRY 346,717,193.40 due to the infringement of article 6 of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (the “Law No. 4054”) by having abused their dominant position. In the conclusion part of the decision, it has been ruled that the economic integrity consisting of Meta and WhatsApp will;
- – submit the necessary measures to the Authority within 1 month at the latest from the service of the reasoned decision in order to end the violation and to ensure the establishment of effective competition in the market,
- – take the necessary measures within 6 months from the service of the reasoned decision,
- – provide periodically report once every year to the Authority for a period of 5 years starting from the implementation of the first compliance measure.
Meta – Threads
As a result of the preliminary investigation into the allegation that Meta violated Article 6 of the Law No.4054 by tying the Threads application with the Instagram application, it has been decided to open an investigation against Meta.8
Pharmaceutical Sector
The Board initiated an investigation against 19 undertakings, consisting mostly of undertakings operating in the pharmaceutical sector and also including an undertaking operating in recruitment sector. A sector inquiry was initiated by the Authority in 2022, regarding the pharmaceutical sector, in which the majority of the undertakings party to the investigation operate.
Labour Markets
Although the Turkish competition law legislation does not include specific regulations on labour markets, it is observed that these markets have been addressed and carefully examined by the Board in the recent years. Several jurisdictions and competition authorities around the world have started to adopt the approach that the competition provisions can be applicable to those cases where the scope of application of labour law and competition law overlaps.
According to the Competition Newsletter published by the Authority in November 202310, “while the Authority was carrying out a dawn raid as part of another investigation, internal documents indicating no-poaching agreements between several platforms in digital market have been found.
Subsequently, the Board opened an ex officio preliminary investigation. The investigation was then expanded to 48 undertakings operating in various sectors such as e-commerce, telecommunications, software development, ready- made clothing/textile, food/beverage and logistics.
The investigation examined whether parties had engaged in no-poaching agreements designed to prevent hiring of each other’s employees or to limit the employee mobility. Such agreements are based on employers’ mutual withdrawal from competing for labour, one of the most important inputs. No- poaching agreements may limit labour mobility between undertakings and may artificially supress wages from receiving their real value. As a result, inefficiencies in the distribution of employees can occur and the competitive structure of labour markets may be distorted. Within the framework of the abovementioned points, the investigation has been terminated with:
- – A settlement for 11 undertakings, leading to a total fine of TRY 101,039,554.64,
-
– An infringement decision for 16 undertakings, leading to a total fine of TRY 151,147,901.82.
The remaining 21 undertakings were not found to be in violation of Act no 4054, either due to lack of evidence or because the agreements were considered to include legitimate vertical relations and thus as ancillary restraints.”
Furthermore, it has been decided to open an investigation against 17 undertakings operating as ready-mixed concrete producers in Ankara in order to determine whether they violated Article 4 of the Law No. 4054 through agreements/concerted practices restricting competition in the labour market.
Like all over the world, the Board showed that it will intervene more in this field with its focus of the labour markets. Thus, it is obvious that the competition problems in labour markets will be mentioned more frequently. This approach is expected to support the rights of the human capital and increase the labour productivity, which will ultimately lead to improve consumer prosperity. In Türkiye, it can be said that the Board’s approach of considering labour problems outside its scope of work has been completely abandoned, and a new era has begun. In this respect, it is obvious that competition law compliance programs should not overlook human resources practices.
Essilor Luxottica,
On 28.08.2023, it has been announced that the investigation carried out on the allegation that; Essilor Luxottica S.A.’s practices complicate the activities of its competitors in the optical market and exclude the competing undertakings; infringe articles 4 and 6 of the Law No. 4054, has been concluded.
It has been determined that the undertaking has acted contrary to the commitments rendered binding, and therefore, pursuant to subparagraph (a) of the first paragraph of Article 17 of the Law No. 4054, an administrative fine of TRY 492,191,132 was imposed.
Furthermore, in the announcement it has been also stating that, its contracts where ophthalmic lens and ophthalmic machine are offered together, and its other practices in the market create de facto exclusivity and were of nature to exclude competitors. It has been decided that the undertaking has infringed Article 6 of the Law No. 4054 by means of these practices and therefore an administrative monetary fine should be imposed on the said undertaking. However, since an administrative fine had already been imposed on the said undertaking on the grounds of non-compliance with the commitments, it has been decided that there is no need to impose a new administrative monetary fine within the framework of the general principle of “ne bis in idem”.14
Sahibinden
According to the announcement published on the website of Authority on 23.08.2023, investigation conducted against Sahibinden has been concluded.
It has been determined that Sahibinden abused its dominant position as a consequence of making it difficult for its corporate members to use more than one platform by preventing data transfers between
platforms, implementing de facto/contractual exclusivity, complicating the activities of its competitors, and infringed Article 6 of Law No. 4054
The Board decided to impose an administrative monetary fine of TRY 40,150,533.15 on the undertaking.
In addition, it has been decided to impose obligations on the undertaking in order to end the infringement and to ensure the maintenance of effective competition in the market.
“(…) SAHİBİNDEN has made it difficult for its corporate members to use more than one platform by preventing them from transferring data, that it has implemented de facto/contractual exclusivity in this way and through the non-competition obligation imposed in its contracts, that it has complicated the activities of its competitors, thus violated Article 6 of Law No. 4054 by abusing its dominant position,”
FMCG Decision
With the decision16 of the Board dated 15.12.2022 No. 22-55/863-357, in order to determine whether the undertakings operating as manufacturers/suppliers in the FMCG sector and the undertakings operating as retailers have violated Article 4 of the Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition, it has been decided that;
12 supplier undertakings have violated Article 4 of the Law No. 4054 by means of agreements or concerted practices in the nature of a hub and spoke
cartel for the purpose of determining the retail sales prices by ensuring and maintaining coordination on sales prices and price increases among the retailers party to the investigation, in their products, and by means of mediating the sharing of competition- sensitive information such as future prices and price increase dates of retailers within this framework, and
5 retail undertakings have coordinated prices and/or price increases through indirect contacts via common suppliers and have violated Article 4 of the Law No. 4054 through agreements or concerted practices in the nature of an aggregation- distribution cartel with the aim of determining the retail prices of various products they offer for sale, however, since a fine was imposed by the Board decision dated 28.10.2021 No. 21-53/747-360, within the framework of the general principle of law “ne bis in idem”, it has been decided that there is no ground to impose a new administrative fine within the scope of this investigation for the relevant undertakings.
Eczacıbaşı
The settlement decision17 resulting from investigation conducted against Eczacıbaşı regarding whether Article 4 of the Law No. 4054 was violated, has been published. The key elements of the decision are briefly presented below:
Eczacıbaşı has been found to have engaged in interference with shelf prices by directly contacting retailers to align prices, resulting in a breach of Article 4 of the Law No. 4054, specifically concerning the resale price maintenance.
Eczacıbaşı has also been found to have violated Article 4 of the Law No. 4054 through coordinating price increases among organized retail establishments by facilitating the indirect sharing of future-oriented competitively sensitive information among A101, Migros, and Carrefoursa, thus becoming a party to a hub&spoke cartel.
It was stated that the duration of both violations was found to be less than one year and therefore there was no aggravating factor in terms of duration. The purchasing power of the retailers was taken into consideration as a mitigating factor and a 40% discount was applied on the administrative fine. Due to the termination of the investigation through settlement process, a 25% discount was applied to the administrative fine, which had initially been calculated after applying a 40% discount based on mitigating factors.
Consequently, Eczacıbaşı has been subject to an administrative fine amounting to TRY 26,288,697.9 total, consisting of (i) TRY 8,762,899.32 pertaining to the resale price maintenance and (ii) TRY 17,525,798.63 in relation to the being a party to a hub&spoke cartel.
Krea
According to the announcement published by the Authority on 08.08.2023, it has been decided that the interim measure regarding the timing of the broadcasting of football match summaries, which was imposed on Krea pursuant to the Board’s decision dated 29.09.2022 no. 22-44/652-281, will continue to be implemented for the 2023-2024 season starting on 11.08.2023
Three Recent Announcements Regarding Investigations
Three announcements regarding investigations have been published on the website of the Authority on 15.12.2023:
- – Within the scope of the investigation regarding the allegation that the undertakings operating in the private higher education student dormitories market in Giresun province agreed among themselves and determined the prices together, it has been decided to accept the settlement texts, to impose administrative fines on the undertakings and to conclude the investigation with a settlement.
- – The investigation regarding the allegation that Align Tech Turkey Tıbbi Cihazlar Limited Company abused its dominant position through predatory pricing and foreclosing the market through discount programmes was completed. In this framework, it has been decided that the undertaking did not violate Article 6 of the Competition Law, and therefore, that there was no need to impose an administrative fine on the undertaking.
- – Within the scope of the investigation conducted on certain private schools operating in Ankara, it has been decided to impose an administrative fine for two undertakings that reached a settlement, and it was decided that there was no need to impose an administrative fine for the other undertakings since no violation was 2detected.
Farmasi
An investigation was launched with the Board decision dated 20.10.2022 with number 22-48/696- M(2) to determine whether Farmasi violated Article 4 of Law No. 4054 by determining resale prices and restricting internet sales, and the investigation was finalized under settlement procedure. In this context, it has been decided to impose an administrative monetary fine of TRY 19,181,311.27 on the undertaking over its gross revenues for 2021 calculated by the Board for resale price maintenance 22 and restriction of internet sales.
The Board found that the responses submitted by the undertaking within the scope of the said investigation constituted incorrect/misleading information with two separate actions of the undertaking, and accordingly, within the framework of subparagraph (c) of Article 16 of Law No. 4054, Farmasi was imposed an administrative monetary fine of one in thousandth of its annual gross revenues at the end of the fiscal year 2021 as determined by the Board23. In the decision, it was first determined that the article referred to in the e- mail contents obtained during the on-site investigation was not included in the contract which was declared to be up-to-date in the response letter sent by the undertaking, the provision which was alleged to have been added by the undertaking in 24 2018 was actually included in 2017 , and then it was determined that the amounts of the back sales for export purposes made by Farmasi during the investigation process were declared differently in each document.
Thereupon, Farmasi requested re-evaluation of the Board decision dated 26.01.2023 with number 23- 06/69-20, regarding the imposition of an administrative monetary fine due to providing incorrect and misleading information within the scope of the Administrative Procedure Law No. 2577.
However, considering that Farmasi is an undertaking with a finance department, the Board did not consider it reasonable that Farmasi had not realised the error in the reply letters submitted, and considered that all information and documents submitted by the CPA, attorney or representative during the entire investigation process were undoubtedly under the responsibility of the undertaking.
In this respect, taking into consideration that the responsibility of the undertaking also continues in terms of the information provided through a CPA, by proxy or representative, undertakings should ensure the consistency and accuracy of the information included in their responses to information and document requests, even in cases where such information is financial in nature and is included in the documents prepared by the CPA.
B. Decisions Regarding On-Site Inspections
L’Oréal
The decision26 regarding L’Oréal has been published on the Authority’s website with respect to deletion of data during on-site inspections. During the on- site inspection that was being carried out at L’Oréal (within the scope of the preliminary inquiry concerning whether Article 4 of the Law No. 4054 has been violated by undertakings active as a manufacturer/supplier in the cosmetics sector), the employees’ work phones were checked, and it was determined that the messages written in the WhatsApp groups were deleted by using the “Delete for Everyone” function.
Although it has been determined that the business correspondences also include friendly messages at the Whatsapp groups, the act of data deletion was described by the Board as an act to spoliation of the evidence, and it has been decided to impose an administrative fine of five per thousand of its gross revenues for 2021 against L’Oréal.
Softtech
In the Softtech decision27 which is published in 2023 it is stated that the software company Softtech made an effort to facilitate the on-site inspection conducted by the officers of the Authority and did its best to ensure proper and complete performance of the on-site inspection on the undertaking and that, in addition, the undertaking sent an e-mail for warning purposes first to its management-level employees and then to all of its employees, stating that they should not delete anything during the on- site inspection.
It is further stated that, despite such warning, a junior HR specialist of the undertaking deleted some emails beyond the control of the undertaking due to the stress and panic that the relevant specialist went through and, on the other hand, all of the data expressed to have been deleted were eventually restored by the Authority’s officers.
Taking the undertaking’s defenses into consideration, the Board has decided to impose an administrative fine of five per thousand of the gross revenue of the undertaking for 2021, considering that:
- ➢ any deletion of data is construed as the prevention/obstruction of the on-site inspection in itself,
- ➢whether the restoration of the deleted data or its content directly addresses a breach of competition is not taken into consideration and therefore the content of the relevant e- mails and the restoration and examination of the same does not affect the evaluation to be made on the undertaking,
- ➢ the correspondence in the deleted e-mails are related to the recruitment processes of the undertaking and therefore is correlated with the subject matter of the investigation conducted, and
- ➢ the fact that the necessary warnings were sent to the employees for them to not delete anything is an internal matter of the undertaking.
In summary, the deletion of an e-mail by an employee led to the passing of the decision on the imposition of a fine on the undertaking, even if the relevant email was restored by the officers in charge of the on-site inspection.
Same Deutz Fahr
Within the context of Same Deutz Fahr decision28, in the on-site inspection conducted at the undertaking’s premises, it was determined that the undertaking’s sales director was using two lines on his mobile phone, one line for person and the other line for work-related matters, yet there was both personal and work-related WhatsApp data on his work phone.
The employee of the undertaking stated that he deactivated the WhatsApp application of his personal line after the commencement of the on-site inspection since the WhatsApp data in his personal line contained private information. In the technical examination conducted by the officer of the Authority, the WhatsApp application was activated and some of the backed-up correspondences were recovered; however, it was in any case considered that the act of deleting hindered and obstructed the on-site inspection.
In conclusion, it was decided to impose an administrative fine on the undertaking in the amount of five per thousand of its gross revenue in the previous year.
Çözüm Vergisi
According to Çözüm Dergisi decision29, during the on-site inspection conducted by the competition officers at Çözüm Dergisi, one of the employees intended to be put under inspection was not present at the undertaking and therefore, it was stated that the professional in charge of conducting the on-site inspection could conduct the inspection through remote access. However, the said employee did not allow the performance of the inspection for a number of reasons and stated that remote inspection would be technically difficult.
It was evaluated in the decision that the inspection procedure involved solutions which could technically overcome such difficulty and that, even if the relevant person would not be able to physically accompany the inspection due to being absent at the inspection site, this would not hinder the performance of the inspection.
In conclusion, it was emphasized that the prevention by the undertaking’s employee of access to data during the on-site inspection was in the nature of a hindrance of on-site inspection, and it was decided to impose an administrative fine on the undertaking in the amount of five per thousand of its gross revenue in the previous year.
The Constitutionality of On-Site Inspections: What Does the Constitutional Court’s Ford Otosan Decision Say?
The Constitutional Court’s Ford Otosan Decision30 has been one of the most prominent competition law developments in Türkiye in 2023 This unexpected decision which is of a nature to spark debates on the practice of the Board related to on-site inspections has been published on 20.06.2023, on the Official Gazette.
This crucial decision which deviates from the Authority’s previous practice is based on the right of inviolability of the domicile taken under guarantee by Article 21 of the Constitution of Republic of Türkiye which requires a decision duly given by a judge, or a written order of an authority empowered by law in cases where delay is prejudicial. In this respect, it has been assessed that on-site inspection is an activity that is mostly carried out in the headquarters, branches and premises of the undertaking, which are considered as domiciles for the purposes of the said Article.
It has been assessed that the conduct of on-site examinations upon the order of the Competition Board in places such as workplaces is not exclusive to cases where there is an inconvenience in delay, within the framework of competition law regulations.
In brief, the Constitutional Court has decided that the inviolability of the domicile, taken under guarantee by Article 21 of the Constitution, has
A. Press Statement of the President Mr. Birol Küle
- ➢ “We stopped the excessive prices at Antalya port. We improved the competitive conditions in stuffing services.”
- ➢ “With our Google investigation, we opened the way for comparison shopping websites and local search websites.
- ➢ “By removing the turnover thresholds for technology companies in mergers and acquisitions, we prevented killer acquisitions. Accordingly, Twitter acquisition should have been notified to us but it was not. Administrative fines were imposed because the acquisition was not notified.”
- ➢ “We enabled second-hand booksellers to switch platforms easily.”
- ➢ “We stopped Facebook requirement for WhatsApp users. They will not be able to use your data as they wish anymore.”
- ➢ We prevented Trendyol from engaging in self- preferencing by means of algorithms. We stopped discrimination.
- ➢ Florists and restaurants can work with the platforms they want under the conditions they choose and can make the campaigns they want in their stores.
- ➢ We conducted sector inquiries into e- marketplaces, online advertising, pharmaceuticals and fuel. We put sectors under the microscope and shed light on their problems.
- ➢ We cleared the way for real estate agents and car dealers to move their data from “Sahibinden” to competitors when they wish. They can move their data to “Sahibinden” if they want to.
- ➢ We prevented the hub&spoke cartel in chain supermarkets. We imposed a record fine of 2.7 billion TL. We prevented manufacturers and suppliers from intervening to shelf prices.
- ➢ We ensured that 25% of Coca-Cola’s fridges in small supermarkets and grocery stores are open to competitors. We terminated the investigation with commitments that will prevent the undertaking from abusing its dominant position.
- ➢ Similarly we opened 30% of Algida’s freezers to competitors and ended exclusivity.
- ➢ We penalized competition infringements concerning staple food such as flour, yeast and egg and terminated infringements.
- ➢ By preventing pharmaceutical giants from making agreements and forcing patients to buy expensive medicine, we saved the public budget from a load.
- ➢ We imposed periodic fines of 492 million TL to the big player in eyeglass and lens market because of not complying with the commitments.
- ➢ We detected the undertakings which determined the shelf prices, one by one, and imposed fines in the cosmetics sector.
- ➢ We made and we are making inquiries into cement, ready-mixed concrete, glass and ceramics sectors.
- ➢ We followed and found whoever blocked online sales and liberalized the market.
- ➢ We enabled the sale of bus tickets over different platforms.
- ➢ We imposed fines to four big undertakings in the fuel sector due to violations concerning resale price maintenance.
- ➢ We were submitted a commitment of 50% discount in service fees for temporary bonded storage in Ankara Esenboğa Airport.
- ➢ We detected the gentlemen’s agreement in front of the free movement of labor and we imposed fines to those. We ensured that employees could easily change their jobs and increase their individual welfare.
Within the framework of the above announcement, it seems like that the Authority will maintain its recent approach on encouraging innovation-based competition and will keep opposing anti-competitive interventions and entry barriers in the markets.
B. Authorization of Independent Auditors to Control the Commitments Performance
The Announcement32 on the Listing of Independent Audit Firms Authorised to Audit the Commitments and Conditions in the Competition Board Decisions was published on the official website of the Public Oversight, Accounting and Auditing Standards Authority.
According to the announcement, it has been decided to publish the list of relevant independent audit firms on the website of the Public Oversight Accounting and Auditing Standards Authority, and to make the necessary updates in the list within the framework of the changes in the below-mentioned criteria by the same authority, and accordingly the list of independent audit firms authorised to perform the said audit service has been published.
It has been stated that audit services regarding whether the commitments and conditions set out in the Board Decisions can be performed by the undertakings which:
- – Have at least 10 or more auditors in its staff and
- – Have audited at least 10 different companies in the last 5 years, at least 5 of which are companies listed on BIST (Istanbul Stock Exchange).
C. Impact Analysis Report
The Presidency of the Economic Analysis and Research Department of the Authority published the 2021-2022 Impact Analysis Report (Report) on 27.01.2023 in relation to its estimations on the measurable economic impacts of the decisions of the Board on the benefit to the consumer.33
The Report summarises the Authority’s activities that positively affect the relevant markets and consumers in the axis of:
- ➢ cartels,
- ➢ retail price maintenance,
- ➢ abuse of dominant position, and
- ➢ mergers and acquisition (merger control)
based upon the calculation methods taken as the basis by various competition authorities in the world in their impact analysis reports as well as those guiding calculation methods recommended by the OECD to authorities intending to conduct similar studies. It is understood that, in the calculations made according to both the conservative scenario and the OECD methodology, the intervention in cartels and agreements of similar nature have made the highest contribution to the benefit to the consumer in the years 2021-2022
It appears that the estimated benefit data provided by the Authority for the 2021-2022 period are considerably higher than those results obtained in the impact analysis studies conducted in relation to the previous years and, considering that such impact is measured in USD, Authority has assumed a much more active role in terms of interventions in the recent years.
The Report indicates that the Authority effectively pursues the competition policy of Türkiye and successful results have been achieved in terms of the process of compliance of undertakings and associations of undertakings to the competition law. As a matter of fact, the Authority itself evaluates such data as follows: “It is precisely seen that the Authority has assumed a considerably significant duty in terms of enhancement of consumers’ welfare”.
D. Reflections of Digital Transformation on Competition Law
By the announcement published on the official website of the Authority on 18.04.2023, the working paper with title “Reflections of Digital Transformation on Competition Law” has been published. In the announcement, it is emphasized
that digital markets have different characteristics from traditional markets, and that it may be relatively difficult to define the relevant markets, to correctly determine the market power of the undertakings, to correctly identify the infringing conduct within the framework of a theory of harm, and to design an appropriate and effective remedy for the infringement.
Within the scope of the working paper, it is stated that a late intervention in digital markets may lead to market closure, while an early intervention may affect the innovation and investment incentives of undertakings negatively.34
E. Administrative Fines Regarding Certain Sectors According to Annual Report
In August 2023, the Authority has published its Annual Report 202235 According to the Annual Report, the sectors with the highest administrative fines imposed for years 2020 to 2022 were as follows:
- – Food Industry: TRY 4,4 billion
- – Chemistry and Mining: TRY 1,6 billion
- – Information Technologies and Platform Services: TRY 1 billion
- – Healthcare Services: TRY 348 million
- – Forestry and Wood-Based Industries: TRY 276,8 million
- – Agriculture and Agricultural products: TRY 240,7 million
- – Banking, Capital Market, Finance and Insurance Services: TRY 174,3 million
- – Other: TRY 138,8 million
- – Machinery Industry: TRY 115,5 million
- – Logistics, Storage and Postal Services: TRY 84 million
04: Sector Inquiries
A. Mobile Ecosystems
By the announcement published on the official website of the Authority on 12.04.2023, it has been notified that a sector inquiry on mobile ecosystems was initiated.
In the announcement, it is stated that there are competitive concerns such as, the facing with exclusionary effects of the competing products and services, the limitation of consumer preferences and the negative affection of innovation competition due to the close relationship of the components that make up the mobile ecosystem (operating systems, applications, application stores, and the like) and that the players with market power operate in many sub-markets.
It is announced that the Mobile Ecosystems Sector Review, which will be conducted to find out the possible competitive and anti-competitive effects caused by mobile ecosystems, consulting the information of the service providers, application developers who are the users of the service, end 36 consumers and device manufacturers is aimed.
B. Online Advertising
According to another announcement, the Preliminary Report of the Online Advertising Sector Inquiry has been published.
In the announcement, it is stated that the competition in Türkiye in terms of online advertising types was analysed and the substitution relationship between these types was examined, and it was evaluated that the visual advertising market is concentrated in Meta and the search- based advertising market is concentrated in Google’s economic integrities.
On the other hand, the competition problems arising as a result of the practices of those undertakings with market power in the sector and the proposed solutions to these problems were investigated, and in this context, it was determined that concerns regarding binding, self-preferencing and data aggregation practices of platforms with high market power may affect the level of competitiveness in the online advertising sector.
C. Red Meat Industry
In December 2023, an announcement has been published on the website of the Authority that a sector inquiry has been initiated regarding red meat 38 industry, which is as follows:
“Red meat sector is one of the main areas which Competition Authority scrutinizes due to the importance of red meat in nutrition and the structure of the market. The Authority made one investigation and two preliminary inquiries into the sector in the last two years.
As a result of the investigation, which was initiated in response to the claim that an undertaking operating in animal husbandry as well as the sale of meat and meat products determined the shelf prices of retailers and which ended with settlement, it was decided that the undertaking violated article 4 of the Act no 4054 on the Protection of Competition (the Act no 4054) by means of resale price maintenance and the said undertaking would be imposed administrative fines.
The focus of preliminary inquiries which were made upon the price increases and supply problems in red meat, is the claim that undertakings and associations of undertakings in the sector violated article 4 of the Act no 4054 by means of agreements and/or decisions of associations of undertakings restricting competition. As a result of the preliminary inquiries, it has been concluded that the recent increases in red meat prices are the result of certain structural problems in the overall sector rather than anticompetitive practices.
Within this framework, a sector inquiry into the red meat sector has been initiated in order to analyse the market dynamics in detail, to detect the structural problems encountered by market players, to suggest solutions for the said problems and to develop competition policy recommendations for improving the competition conditions in the market. “
D. Petroleum Sector
A sector inquiry has been initiated in the petroleum sector on the following grounds stated in the Annual Report 2022 of the Authority published in August 2023:
“The examination of the petroleum sector is conducted due to the need for identifying current or potential market shortcomings in the petroleum industry and developing solutions to address them. Through this sectoral analysis, the goal is to comprehend the structure and functioning of all stages of the petroleum market, as well as to understand the competitive issues in the market. Within this framework, the aim is to provide recommendations for proactive steps that can be taken to establish effective competition in the mentioned market. The examination is driven by the necessity to address and propose solutions for any existing or anticipated market disruptions in the petroleum sector.”
E. Pharmaceutical Sector
The Authority has launched a sector inquiry regarding the pharmaceutical sector based on the following considerations set out in the Annual Report of 2022:
“The examination of the pharmaceutical sector aims to analyze the structure and functioning of the industry, identify factors influencing competition within the sector, and propose solutions to combat competitive issues. The goal is to provide recommendations for addressing and mitigating competition-related challenges by thoroughly examining the intricacies of the pharmaceutical sector’s operations and competitive landscape.“
F. Container Transportation with Regular Lines and Container Port Services Sector
Based on the following justifications stated in the Annual Report 2022:
“The maritime transportation sector can be subject to competition law due to the relationships among line carriers, ports, and other service providers. Particularly, recent irregularities in line transportation fees, exacerbated by the challenges highlighted during the global Covid-19 pandemic, underscore the need for a detailed examination of the sector’s structure and operations. Consequently, within the scope of sector analysis, the aim is to understand the dynamics of port services as a complementary market integrated with line transportation.”
The Authority has initiated a sector inquiry at the Container Transportation with Regular Lines and Container Port Services Sector.
G. Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Retailing Sector
The Final Report39 of the Turkish Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Retailing Sector Review has been published by the announcement40 published on the website of the Authority.
The Final Report39 of the Turkish Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Retailing Sector Review has been published by the announcement40 published on the website of the Authority.
H. Automotive Sector
A sector inquiry has been launched by the Authority prompted by the following considerations:
“An examination of the automotive sector has been initiated to identify the factors influencing the competitive market structure and to address structural issues within the sector by proposing solutions. The aim is to delve into issues such as supply and demand challenges, taxation and pricing policies related to vehicles, distribution channels, post-sales services within the sector, and the digitization and electric vehicles within the framework of technological advancements.”
I. Markets Affected in the Earthquake Region
41 According to another announcement , it has been reported that “a sector investigation has been initiated for the determination of competition problems that may arise in the markets in terms of 11 cities affected by the earthquakes that occurred on 06 February 2023 In this context, it is aimed to ensure that by taking quick proactive steps to identify the possible competitive problems that may delay both the social and economic recovery process in the earthquake area, by also coordinating with other relevant public institutions and organizations when necessary.
Thus, preventing the undertakings from engaging in possible activities restricting/distorting competition against the sudden and high demand arisen against certain sectors; on the other hand, to the provision of necessary guidance for the competitive design of cooperations that can be realized between the undertakings during the planning and reconstruction of the region has been aimed.”