Turkey has made significant progress in its efforts to combat bribery in international business deals by fully implementing all but one of the recommendations made by the OECD Working Group on Bribery since 2007, earning praise from the other 37 countries that are Party to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention at a recent meeting in Paris.

Turkish representatives said at the meeting that the remaining recommendation would also be fully implemented as soon as a draft law on the scope of external company audits was adopted by Parliament.

The Working Group on Bribery made strong recommendations to Turkey in December 2007. A second review in June 2009 indicated that Turkey was on the right track. In a recent follow-up assessment discussed at the meeting in Paris, the Group found that Turkey has implemented the vast majority of the Group’s recommendations for improving implementation of the Anti-Bribery Convention.

Highlights of measures taken by Turkey include:

- Re-establishing an anti-bribery law on corporate liability, which will hold Turkish companies liable for bribery in their international business transactions;

- Actively enforcing the Turkish offence against foreign bribery through ongoing investigations in three foreign bribery cases;

- Adopting specific legislative and regulatory provisions, including instituting new laws to protect whistleblowers, and ending tax deductions for bribe payments; and

- Developing awareness-raising and training on the bribery of foreign public officials in international business deals.

“This outcome demonstrates the positive effects of peer pressure,” said Professor Mark Pieth, chair of the Working Group on Bribery. “Implementation of the Anti-Bribery Convention by each Party is evaluated by the other 37 Parties and reports of their findings and recommendations are published.”