COOPERATIVES IN TURK?YE

The cooperatives that exist and are practiced today were actually implemented and practiced by our ancestors many years ago as Imece. The meaning of imece is that people living in the same area work together for the common good without remuneration. For example, villagers painting a village house together. The cooperative principles of mutual aid, sacrifice and solidarity are similar to the imece practiced by our ancestors in our history. For this reason, we can call imece an unorganized form of cooperativism. We can also cite the Ahilik organization, which is similar in Turkish history and dates back to the 13th century under the Anatolian Seljuks. At that time, Ahilik was a professional association of artisans and craftsmen. These unions had common aspects and objectives with today's cooperatives, such as preventing excessive wealth and income imbalance among citizens, providing jobs for those who did not have a job, protecting production institutions and consumers, and providing vocational training.

Now let's consider modern day cooperatives.

WHAT ARE COOPERATIVES ?

Cooperatives are based on a unique model that increases social welfare, adds value to the environment in which they are located, such as cultural, social solidarity and education, contributes to economic development, and provides an infrastructure for commercial activities. These enterprises have characteristics such as ownership by partners, service to and management by partners, self-sufficiency, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, justice and solidarity, unity and solidarity.

According to the laws of the Republic of Turkey, Law No. 1163 on Cooperatives, Article 1 - (Amended: 21/4/2004-5146/1 Art.) defines cooperatives as follows:

"A cooperative is a partnership with variable partners and variable capital established by real and legal persons in order to provide and protect the specific economic interests of its members and especially the needs of their profession or livelihood by means of mutual assistance, solidarity and surety with their labor and monetary contributions."

Cooperatives are economic enterprises formed by people with economic interests for the same purpose and with the understanding of mutual solidarity and cooperation. This enterprise is a member of the free market economy and is not directly profit-oriented like other free market enterprises.

Cooperatives can also be defined as an economic community with mutual assistance among its members, with no capital limit, with no restriction on the number of members, and with a maximum number of shares that members can acquire.

WHAT DO COOPERATIVES DO ?

Cooperatives and similar organizations continue their activities in Turkey and around the world with an estimated number of over 1 billion. These organizations exist in different sectors with various purposes and organizational structures.

In today's world, cooperatives can be seen as a useful tool to meet the diverse needs of the community and to increase the welfare of the people and their members, as they can be easily established in any geographical location. These organizations facilitate more effective access to economic and social support programs, education, insurance, health, credit and other services.

Cooperatives provide access to resources, services or products that are difficult to obtain or utilize individually for individuals, who are the main constituents of society, often those with low income levels. For example, in Turkey, the building cooperatives established to help low-income poor people to own a house are an example of this.

"Cooperatives are also an important cog in the global economic factory. Their trade volume accounts for 3-10% of the gross domestic product of developing and emerging countries. According to the ICA Global-300 project, which compiles information on the world's 300 largest cooperatives, the total turnover of cooperatives in 2008 amounted to 1.6 trillion dollars. The total turnover of these 300 cooperatives alone is on par with the gross domestic product of the world's 9th largest economy." ( https://ticaret.gov.tr/kooperatifcilik )

According to data from the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Turkey;

"Cooperatives are a sustainable business model, strengthen local economies, improve living conditions, give people responsibility, and are participatory.

1.???? 1. Cooperatives have approximately 1 billion members worldwide.

2.???? 2. The 300 largest cooperatives in the world had a combined turnover of $1.6 trillion in 2008.

3.???? 3. Cooperatives are the way out of poverty. Their unique models provide a comparative advantage for women, indigenous people and other vulnerable groups.

4.???? 4. Financial cooperatives serve about 857 million people, or 13% of the world's population. They are the largest providers of microfinance services for low-income people - serving 80 million clients globally living below the poverty line of $2 a day.

5.???? 5. Under the umbrella of the World Council of Credit Unions, 49,000 credit unions serve 177 million partners in 96 countries.

6.???? 6. Cooperatives provide 70% of aquaculture products in Korea, 40% of agricultural products in Brazil, 25% of savings in Bolivia, 25% of the health sector in Colombia, 55% of the retail sector in Singapore, 35% in Denmark and 15% in Hungary.

7.???? 7. In Bangladesh, rural electric cooperatives serve 28 million people; in the US, 900 rural electric cooperatives own almost half of the country's electricity distribution lines and serve 37 million people.

8.???? 8. Cooperatives play a major role in rural development, with estimates suggesting that 50% of global agricultural products are marketed through cooperatives.

9.???? 9. Agricultural cooperatives encourage women to participate in economic production, increasing food production and rural development.

10.? 10. Agricultural cooperatives use sustainable agricultural practices and contribute to food security.

11.?????????????? Cooperatives provide social security in the form of health insurance, life insurance, property/casualty insurance through mutual insurance companies." (https://ticaret.gov.tr/kooperatifcilik/kooperatifler-hakkinda-bilgiler/kooperatif-nedir )

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1. To summarize the elements of a cooperative;

No limitations on the number of partners and capital,

Legal entities may also acquire the title of "partner",

The purpose of cooperatives is to ensure the economic interests of their members,

In order for a cooperative to become a "legal" entity and to achieve its objectives, members must mutually help each other through labor, material or monetary values, solidarity or suretyship.

2. Differences between Capital Companies and Cooperatives

Although cooperatives are similar to joint stock companies in terms of their objectives and methods of establishment, they differ from capital companies in a number of ways. If we list these differences:

The main goal of capital companies is to make a profit. Corporations aim to pay their employees or workers the lowest possible wage, produce with the lowest input costs and have the highest possible profitability. The goal of cooperatives is completely different from that of companies. This is because in cooperatives, the members of the cooperative own the enterprise. For instance, in the case of consumer cooperatives, the customers are the members of the cooperative and they get their needs at the cheapest price through their cooperative. In production cooperatives, on the other hand, the producers are the producers themselves, and they want to market the goods they produce with their labor force at the best price. Sometimes both of these objectives are pursued together.

While in capital companies, profits are distributed in proportion to the capital invested by the shareholders, this is completely different in cooperatives. This is because cooperatives are not established for profit, but for the common economic benefit.

In capital companies, profits are distributed to shareholders. In cooperatives, profits are either not distributed at all, or they are distributed to all members according to the proportion of purchases made by the members with the cooperative. Profit sharing is prohibited in cooperatives due to their capital.

In a joint stock company, it is natural for the shareholders or partners to know each other personally, or for the directors of the company to know each other, and it is of no value who owns the shares of the company, and it is even possible for the shares of the company to be traded on the stock exchange. However, shares in cooperatives may only be transferred or sold to others with the permission of the cooperative. In this way, speculation on the cooperative's assets is not permitted.

The main purpose of companies is to find capital for the business. However, cooperatives aim to provide the main needs in their region by cooperating or to find the most efficient solutions to the needs of a professional group by coming together or to transform their products into material values.

While in capital companies, shareholders are represented in terms of management and voting rights in proportion to the shares they own or the capital they have invested in the partnership, this situation is different in cooperatives. In cooperatives, the capital contributed by the members does not matter. Everyone is equal in management or decisions to be taken. This gives the members the right to represent the number of partnerships they represent in the decisions taken, rather than the capital invested. This shows that in cooperatives, the members are more important than the capital.

While for cooperatives, social goals for the goals and interests of the members and the community are more important than profit-making, this is completely different for capital companies. The main purpose of capital companies is to make a profit.

3. Principles of Cooperativism

There are seven key characteristics that distinguish capital companies from cooperatives, and these seven fundamental characteristics apply to all cooperatives around the world. These characteristics have changed and evolved since the inception of cooperatives to meet the needs that have arisen from the very nature of cooperatives to form the basic principles of modern cooperatives today. These principles are closely interconnected, and violations of one of them will be detrimental to the others.

The above seven principles were adopted by the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) at the Manchester Congress in 1995.

3.1. Principle of Voluntary and Free Entry

This principle is understood to mean that participation in cooperatives is voluntary, that membership is not compulsory, and therefore that these institutions are voluntary organizations. However, even if it is understood that participation is not compulsory, it is also understood that cooperative members have responsibilities to fulfill towards the organization and that there are rules to be followed. It should also be known that only members can benefit from the cooperative's facilities. In other words, only members can benefit from the facilities of a beekeeping cooperative, or only citrus producers can benefit from a citrus cooperative. In this way, the cooperative can restrict membership.

3.2. Democratic Management Principle of the Shareholder

In capital companies, the shareholders have a say in the management of the company in proportion to the capital they have contributed or the shares they own. In cooperatives, however, this is completely different: every shareholder has equal representation rights. It does not matter how many shareholder rights they have. In this respect, it enables decisions to be taken with the direct participation of each shareholder with equal representation in order to direct the activities of the partnership or to make decisions related to the partnership. The elected managers have responsibilities to the shareholders.? Managers and auditors are democratically elected with the direct participation of the partners. In this process, each partner has equal voting rights.

3.3. Partner's Economic Participation Principle

Members are the owners of the cooperative. The members invest equally in the creation of the capital. As a condition of partnership, shareholders receive a limited amount of interest so that the capital does not override the partnership. The profit generated by the operations of the cooperative belongs to the cooperative. However, if a decision is taken to distribute profits, the partners must benefit equally from this benefit. The shareholders can use the surplus income of the enterprise in a fund to be established for the betterment of the cooperative or they can keep it as a reserve fund. These surplus revenues can also be distributed to the members in proportion to their business volume. These methods transform the cooperative from a profit-oriented organization into an economic service.

3.4. Principle of Autonomy and Independence

Cooperatives are autonomous and independent. They are not subject to the management of the state or any other public institution. They can make and implement independent decisions about their own functioning and future activities. They can develop relationships with government departments, just like capital companies, and receive assistance. However, these relationships are not understood as interference with their autonomy and independence. Cooperation and agreements with private or public organizations do not affect the cooperatives' future, their activities and their independent management.? Nor should they allow them to do so.

3.5. Education, Training and Information Principle

Once cooperatives are formed by members, education is essential for members, elected and appointed managers, and employees to learn about the functioning, objectives, and social responsibilities of the cooperative, to absorb the spirit of cooperatives, and to move the cooperative forward. Since cooperatives are formed by multiple members, it is important that members are informed about all the activities and finances of the cooperative and that both the public and members are informed about their social responsibilities.

3.6.Kooperatifler Aras? ?? birli?i ?lkesi

The main purpose of cooperatives is to help each other and to achieve their goals through cooperation. For this reason, cooperation is essential for members to strengthen both their cooperative and cooperatives. This cooperation plays an important role in the development of the country. The intermediaries in this production or supply chain can be eliminated. In this way, they can compete with multinational companies at the international level. Moreover, cooperatives can be organized in this way at the national level to create effective sales and competitive conditions in the market. To achieve the above, they need to cooperate through horizontal and vertical integration. They do this by organizing themselves into supreme, central and national cooperative associations.

3.7. The Principle of Social Responsibility

Cooperatives were originally formed by members to achieve a common purpose through mutual aid and solidarity. Although their primary purpose was to protect the interests of the members, they also had responsibilities towards the community, the social environment and the public. As part of these responsibilities, there were rules that the cooperative's organs, elected or appointed managers, employees and members had to abide by in order to maintain order. When these rules are not followed, there are penal sanctions to be faced. All these responsibilities and penal sanctions are regulated by the legislator in the Cooperatives Law No. 1163. Although all managers and officers responsible for the functioning of the cooperative are not public officials, the Law No. 1163 explains that in some cases they will be considered as public officials due to their responsibilities.

References

1.???? Alev AKG?K?E- 1163 Say?l? Kooperatifler Kanunu’na g?re kooperatif y?netim kurulu üyelerinin cezai sorumluluklar?n?n incelenmesi.

2.???? ?smail KIRCA, Feyzan HAYAL, ?ehirali ?EL?K, ?a?lar MANAVGAT, Anonim ?irketler Hukuku Cilt 1, s. 88-120.

3.???? Erkan REHBER, “Kooperatif?ilik” ekin yay?nlar?, Bursa, 2011, s. 65.

4.???? Mülayim, Kooperatif?ilik, s. 83.

5.???? Sebahattin KARANLIK, Kooperatifler ve Muhasebesi, Nobel Yay?nevi, Ankara, 2009, s. 14.

6.???? Erkan REHBER, s. 111-122; Mülayim, “Kooperatif?ilik”, s.70-88, Guidance Notes to The Cooperative Principles (ICA Kooperatif?ilik ?lkeleri K?lavuz Notlar?), Brüksel, 2015, s. 5-7.

7.???? Hüseyin POLAT, Yeniden yorumlanan de?erler ve ilkeler ?????nda yar?n?n i?letmesi kooperatif, Akara, 2017, s. 37,38.