Turkey is currently an energy-dependent country, with approximately 70% of its energy being supplied from imported sources. More investment in renewable energy has thus become vital for Turkey.

For the year 2011, the Turkish Government has set a budgetary target of USD 9.5 billion for its privatization proceeds. This is a challenging figure, constituting more than 15% of the aggregate of the last 25 years.

The volume of e-commerce has been constantly expanding in Turkey. The total e-commerce volume of 15,2 million TL recorded in 2010, is expected to expand by 50% in 2011.

The long-awaited “Communiqué on Mergers and Acquisitions Calling for the Authorization of the Competition Board” (the “New Communiqué”) was published in the Official Gazette on 7 October 2010. The Communiqué, which entered into force on 1 January 2011, introduces a new merger control regime, in line with recent developments in European Commission (the “EC”) legislation.

On 29 December 2010, the Turkish Parliament finally passed the long-awaited Law Amending the Law on Utilization of Renewable Energy Sources for the Purpose of Generating Electrical Energy (the “Amended RES Law”). The Amended RES Law was enacted to incentivize more investment in this field. Despite criticism, the extent to which the Amended RES Law will be successful in achieving this purpose is yet to be tested.