Türkiye’s competition authority has signaled a potential expansion of its ongoing price investigation into private schools, citing a surge in public complaints over tuition and ancillary service fees.
Speaking on the matter, Birol Küle, head of the Turkish Competition Authority, recalled that a formal probe had already been launched into 19 private educational institutions.
The investigation focuses not only on tuition fees but also on the pricing of supplementary services such as catering and stationery. “There were a large number of complaints on this issue,” Küle said, adding that he expects the number of investigations in the private school sector “to increase significantly in the coming period.”
Küle noted that the authority concluded a substantial number of investigations last year while simultaneously initiating new cases.
He underlined that 2026 had begun at a fast pace in both enforcement and research activities, particularly in agriculture. Ongoing investigations into seed and sapling markets have uncovered widespread violations. Despite this, Küle observed signs of adaptation within the sector, with companies taking steps to prevent future infringements. Administrative fines in these cases have approached 190 million Turkish Liras.
The authority is also pursuing inquiries in the dairy sector, where structural issues affecting producers have prompted two separate investigations — one into raw milk procurement and another into feed-for-milk arrangements.
Küle stressed that settlement applications in these cases were not accepted, as the authority aims to issue a comprehensive final ruling accompanied by regulatory obligations designed to safeguard producers and ensure a fair, transparent, and competitive market structure.
“Our experts are working around the clock,” he said, expressing confidence that the outcome would lead to a more orderly marketplace.
Investigations in the banking and insurance sectors are likewise ongoing, with particular concern over practices that restrict labor mobility. Küle described such violations as unacceptable, warning that they hinder economic development, distort income distribution and contribute to brain drain.
The authority continues to scrutinize major digital platforms, including Apple, Google, Yemek Sepeti and Sahibinden, centering on restrictions imposed on alternative payment systems and the anti-competitive use of data.
Additional sector reviews are underway in fast-moving consumer goods, where the use of handheld terminals is being examined, as well as in pharmaceuticals, container transportation and port operations.
The pharmaceutical review, ongoing for more than two years, has yielded findings relevant to multiple government ministries, with a public workshop expected later this year.
Küle also highlighted the growing role of artificial intelligence in strengthening the authority’s analytical and enforcement capabilities. AI tools are now used in inspections, forensic data analysis and risk detection, enabling the simultaneous examination of up to 550 sectors — an operational scale previously unattainable through conventional methods.
