The Legacy of Vakıf Institutions and the Management of Social Policy in Turkey

Abstract

This paper attempts to compare and contrast the public-service-provision paradigms during the Ottoman era and the post-2001 crisis, i.e. the Justice and Development Party (AKP) period in Turkey with a focus on social supports. Regarding the social services/supports targeting the lowest-income population, the legacy of vakıf has been re-interpreted in the latter period with the increase in the service capacity of the two vakıf-related entities (the Social Assistance and Solidarity Vakıfs and the Directorate General of Vakıfs). However, this paper argues that these vakıf institutions per se cannot provide credible commitment for social insurance during the economic depressions although the quality of political commitment has strenghtened over the last decade.