A new legal amendment published in the Official Gazette yesterday has put restrictions on the use of foreign-made cars in the public sector.

The move comes amid Turkey's efforts to promote local industry, barred acquisition of foreign-made cars of any model by public sector officials. Only high-ranking officials including those from the presidency, military brass and executives of law enforcement, will be allowed to acquire cars built outside the country. Turkey, home to factories of major car brands and leading spare parts exporters, is looking to expand "local and national" initiatives for production of goods, from cars to defense systems by Turkish manufacturers using local resources. Last year, the government unveiled a domestic car project and prototype of the first domestically produced car, which is expected to be ready next year.

Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak announced a new plan for huge savings on vehicles used by the public sector last month. Albayrak has asked all public offices, ministries, municipalities and public economic enterprises to form emergency inventory lists of all rental and owned cars by Sept. 14. The 2018 budget outlines that there are 110,131 vehicles used by the state not including the municipalities. Some 98,852 of these vehicles belong to the general administration, 7,077 to special funding, 4,115 to the board of higher education and 87 to regulatory and supervisory authorities.