Sümerbank was a Turkish bank and industrial

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

established in 1933 and originally owned by the Turkish state, now part of Oyak Bank. On 11 January 2002, Oyak Bank acquired Sümerbank and the combined bank is now known under the Oyak Bank name.

History

Sümerbank Textile Factory was established in 1933 as a state owned bank for funding the construction of textile factories and the development of the

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of textiles: yarn, cloth and clothing. Industry process Cotton manufacturing Cotton is the world's most important natural fibre. In the year 2007, th ...

in Turkey. A year earlier, in 1932, President

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

and Prime Minister

İsmet İnönü Mustafa İsmet İnönü (24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish politician and military officer who served as the second List of Presidents of Turkey, president of Turkey from 1938 to 1950, and as its Prime Minister of Turkey, pr ...

had secured a foreign credit loan worth 8.5 million

Turkish lira The lira (; Currency sign, sign: Turkish lira sign, ₺; ISO 4217, ISO 4217 code: TRY; abbreviation: TL) is the official currency of Turkey. It is also legal tender in the ''de facto'' state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. One lira i ...

s from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

(which offered the lowest

interest rate An interest rate is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited, or borrowed (called the principal sum). The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the principal sum, the interest rate, ...

s to Turkey in that period) for the construction of Sümerbank's first textile factory in

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

. The first textile production plant in Kayseri was opened in September 1935. The Soviet Union also provided credit loans and technical assistance for Turkey's ''First Five-Year Industrial Plan'' ('' Birinci Beş Yıllık Sanayi Planı'', 1934–1938) which was partially influenced by the First Five-Year Economic Plan (1928–1932) of the Soviet Union. Economists and planning experts from the Soviet Union and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

were invited to Turkey and prepared reports on how the country should use its natural resources efficiently for industrialization, and how to optimally distribute the factories and industrial plants across the country's geographical regions.Alkan Soyak: "Türkiye'de İktisadi Planlama: DPT'ye İhtiyaç var mı?", Doğuş Üniversitesi Dergisi, 4 (2) 2003, p. 172
/ref> Sümerbank's textile plants produced the highest quality textiles in Turkey during the early decades of the republic, for relatively cheap prices, which enabled the citizens with low levels of income to afford decent clothing. After 11 years of consecutive wars between 1911 and 1922, namely the

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish (, "Tripolitanian War", , "War of Libya"), also known as the Turco-Italian War, was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911 to 18 October 1912. As a result of this conflict, Italy captur ...

(1911–1912),

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

(1912–1913),

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(1914–1918) and the

Turkish War of Independence , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...

(1919–1923), the Turkish economy was devastated and many Turks were poor. Starting from 1929, the global

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, which lasted until the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1945, also badly hit the rapidly growing (since 1923) but still weak and fragile Turkish economy. Due to the lack of a strong

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The private sector employs most of the workfo ...

in Turkey in those years, large scale investments by the government were necessary for initiating the industrialization efforts in the country. Sümerbank was the cornerstone of Atatürk's industrial revolution in Turkey. Sümerbank's factories and plants, which represented the state-led industrialization in the Turkish textile sector for decades, were gradually closed and sold starting from 2002, when Oyak Bank acquired Sümerbank and decided to terminate the company's operations in this field, due to the highly developed private sector and saturated market in the Turkish textile industry by the early 2000s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sumerbank Defunct banks of Turkey Banks disestablished in 2002 Banks established in 1933 2002 disestablishments in Turkey Manufacturing companies established in 1933 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2002 Government-owned companies of Turkey Turkish companies established in 1933

History

See also

References