The relations between the government-businessmen during the Democratic Party period

Today, the capitalist class, which we call a businessman, has a key place in the country's economy, and has never missed close contact with the government, both in the period of monarchy and in democratic governments. As long as both sides supported each other, they added strength to their power. With the increasing prevalence of the capitalist system in the world, businessmen have reached a position that can direct the history of countries and even the world. In the Ottoman Empire, the class of merchants and businessmen generally consisted of non-Muslim subjects. While this situation did not pose a problem for hundreds of years, in the 20th century, it started to affect the state sovereignty negatively with the effect of the economic and political change experienced in the world. The imperialist states seized the enterprises in the country one by one through their collaborators in the Ottoman State. Although the first step to change this situation was taken with the understanding of National Economy during the Union and Progress period, the real nationalization will take place in the Republican period. When the new Turkish state was established, many enterprises in the country such as banks, railways, tunnels, mines, water, gas, electricity, telephone, tram and tobacco were in the hands of foreign companies. These businesses were bought by the state and given to Turkish and Muslim notables with business bank loans, and a local and national businessman class was tried to be created. Turkish businessmen, who started to exist with the support they received from the state during the single-party period, continued to develop with the support of the government after the Democratic Party came to power. Sometimes this support would not be withheld, even at the expense of state institutions. Businessmen did not leave the government's support unrequited and donated large amounts to the Democratic Party every year. During the election times, this amount increased significantly in line with the wishes of the party leaders. Political and economic events and decisions made in the years when the Democratic Party was in power have had some direct or indirect effects on businessmen. These effects were tried to be detailed in our study through the cases experienced by the businessmen of that period. With the deterioration of democracy, justice and economic stability that existed at the time when the Democratic Party came to power, the relations between government and businessmen entered a turbulent period. Turkish businessmen, who seek to make a profit in the short term by trying to do business in an unstable economic environment, preferred to remain silent against the political and economic pressures applied to them, as they did not want to lose their current position in an untransparent legal environment.