Turkey is one of the 20 founding members of the OECD. Currently, OECD has
37 members. Like all the member countries, the Turkish government maintains
a permanent delegation to the OECD, composed of an ambassador and
diplomats.
From 1960’s to 1980’s, Turkey’s interest in the OECD focused on the works
of the “the OECD Consortium to Aid Turkey” which had been established on 12
July 1962 to annually oversee Turkey’s economic situation and determine the
amount of financial aid to be allocated to Turkey. In addition to the
Consortium, Turkey actively participated in the works of the “Working Group
on Turkey’s External Debt” which was established on 17 May 1978 with the
purpose of better management of Turkey’s increasing foreign debt. From the
mid-1980s to the year 2000, Turkey’s interest in the OECD declined
relatively with the end of the mandates of the said Consortium and the
Working Group. Starting from the 2000’s, Turkey-OECD relations reached new
heights parallel to the EU accession and national reform processes.
Today, relevant Turkish authorities and bodies are following the OECD work
more closely, making their contributions and benefitting from the
organization. Recently, national regulatory bodies have also focused their
attention to the OECD work.
Members of the Turkish Delegation monitor the work of the OECD’s various
committees as well as the activities of the International Transport Forum
(ITF), the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Nuclear Energy Agency
(NEA), of which Turkey is a member.
OECD Ankara Multilateral Tax Center operates in Ankara under the management
of the Turkish Ministry of Treasury and Finance. Apart from Turkey, OECD
Multilateral Tax Centers are operational in Austria, Hungary, Korea and
Mexico along with the Ankara Center, which is one of the most active ones.
Since 1993, OECD Ankara Multilateral Tax Center has hosted education
seminars on tax matters.
Recently, in 2020 OECD İstanbul Center has become operational under the
management of the Turkish Ministry of Trade. The official inauguration
ceremony of the center is planned to be held in 2020.
As a member of the Council, Turkey's ambassador, in consultation with
his/her peers, agrees the programme of work which is described in the
annual report and establishes the volume of the annual budget,
contributions being assessed according to the relative size of each
country’s economy. Turkey’s financial contribution to the OECD main budget
(Part – I) in 2019 stood at a scale of 2.2 %. With the addition of Part –
II programs, annex budgets and pensions, total amount of the contribution
reaches up 7.1 million Euros.
In 2012, Turkey carried out the Chairmanship of the Ministerial Council
Meeting of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) after 26 years. In 2013, Turkey hosted a series of important OECD
events, including the Informal Meeting of OECD Ministers of Education,
Ministers Conference on Universal Health Coverage, and Global Forum for
Information Economy. In addition, Turkey hosted the 2013 Ministerial
Meeting of the International Energy Agency, which operates under OECD.
Turkey worked closely with the OECD in 2015 during its G20 Presidency.
As one of the founding members, Turkey will continue to actively
participate in and contribute to the OECD work.