eurasia.net - Amid Turkey’s turn away from strict secularism, Islamic banking practices in the country are gaining currency. But they still face significant obstacles as they strive to enter the financial mainstream.
Turkey at present has four Islamic banks -- three that are partially owned by companies based in the Persian Gulf -- which accounted for 5 percent of Turkey’s 1-trillion-lira ($559 billion) banking sector in late 2010, according to data from the Participation Banks’ Association of Turkey, a lobbyist group for Islamic banks.
The banks are known as “participation banks,” since, in keeping with Islamic tenets, depositors and borrowers share the risk of financial transactions with the banks themselves. Interest is not charged. Clients are mostly pious entrepreneurs from the central region of Anatolia, especially in cities such as Gaziantep, Konya, and Kayseri. The area is home to several companies that have become known as “Anatolian Tigers” for their rapid growth.(source)
