President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday unveiled Türkiye's new five-year strategy for cooperatives, which he described as a "fair system that transforms individual labor into collective strength" and pledged expanded financial and institutional support for the sector.
Speaking at the launch ceremony in Istanbul, Erdoğan said cooperatives embody the philosophy of producing, managing and earning together, and highlighted their role in empowering disadvantaged groups, supporting local development, and strengthening women, youth and small producers.
"A small producer, a young farmer, a woman entrepreneur – all are stronger under the roof of a cooperative than they are alone," he said.
Türkiye currently has 62,000 cooperatives with over 6.5 million members, which Erdoğan called a valuable asset for the country's economic and social life. But he also noted that Türkiye still lags behind the European Union, where more than 250,000 cooperatives represent over 165 million members.
Globally, cooperatives have gained traction as local producers seek protection from what Erdoğan called the "merciless wheels of wild capitalism" and aggressive pricing by multinational corporations.
He cited figures from the International Cooperative Alliance showing that there are around 3 million cooperatives worldwide, with 12% of the global population as members and a combined turnover exceeding $2.4 trillion.
Calling the United Nations' decision to declare 2025 as the International Year of Cooperatives "timely and meaningful," Erdoğan said Türkiye would use the opportunity to further strengthen cooperative culture.
The 2025-2029 Cooperative Strategy and Action Plan sets out five policy pillars, two objectives, six targets and 23 activities, according to the president.
It includes goals to create a more favorable environment for cooperative growth, modernize legislation, boost digitalization, introduce new cooperative models, enhance institutional and financial capacity, and make cooperatives more innovative and competitive.
Erdoğan stressed that the plan would serve as a "road map for the next five years" of Turkish cooperative development.
The government continues its efforts to encourage the establishment of new cooperatives and to enhance the commercial capacity of existing ones, the president said.
Türkiye launched the Cooperative Support Program (KOPDES) in 2020, through which 826 projects by 772 cooperatives have received TL 110.5 million ($2.67 million) in grants to date, he added.
"At the beginning of last year, we doubled the number of support categories available to cooperatives," Erdoğan noted.
"This year, we increased the support amount by 2.5 times," he stressed, saying machinery and equipment grants were raised from TL 400,000 to TL 1 million.
He also noted exhibition and fair participation support increased from TL 60,000 to TL 150,000, while annual qualified personnel employment support per employee increased from TL 204,000 to TL 266,400, and to TL 532,800 from TL 408,000 for two employees.
In a further boost, Erdoğan revealed the creation of a new credit mechanism within the Credit Guarantee Fund (KGF).
Backed by a TL 100 million contribution from Central Union of Turkish Tradesmen and Craftsmen Credit and Guarantee Cooperatives (TESKOMB), the scheme will provide cooperatives with access to up to TL 3 billion in credit.
Additional planned initiatives include allowing cooperatives to benefit from export support schemes and increasing the share of shelf space for local cooperative products in major retail chains from 1% to 2%.
Among other measures are reducing barcode and food analysis fees for women’s cooperatives and lowering e-commerce commission rates through a protocol with online platforms.
"We have not forgotten our disabled citizens and young people," Erdoğan said.
"We are initiating work on a draft law for social cooperatives, aiming to bring the labor and entrepreneurial efforts of individuals with 80% disabilities and youth aged 18-24 into the economy," he noted.
