Political instability and Turkish banking since the Ottoman Empire: a historical overview

Abstract

The Ottoman economic mind was closely related to the basic concepts of state and society in the Middle East in which the ultimate goal of a state was consolidation and extension of the ruler's power. By developing commercial centers and routes, the state performed basic economic functions in the empire. In 1923, Turkey underwent a great transformation in terms of religion, social, and cultural bases of Turkish society as well as its political and economic structure with its announcement as a republic with Ataturk being its first president over 14 years. This chapter discusses the changing structure of the economy, financial system and banking sector since the Ottoman Empire up until today's Modern Turkey. It provides the reader with an overview of political instability, financial crises experienced in the country and what has changed in the banking sector over the past 700 years.