2015 Annual Review of Labour Relations and Social Dialogue Turkey UTKU BALABAN April 2016  In contrast to the period from 2000-2010, the economic growth rate in Turkey slowed down over the last three years and turned negative in 2015.  Turkey has problematic labour relations, exceptionally low female participation in the labour force and low union density. Albeit with some improvement in recent years, union density decreased much faster than in other European countries and the OECD countries during the last decade and Turkey has the lowest density within these two groupings. Pro-government union confederations managed to expand their membership at the expense of the other confederations. The government has problematic relations with the unions as well as with the business associations.  The current government privatized more assets during its successive terms than all the previous governments combined. Turkey receives a meagre amount of foreign direct investment with respect to the size of its economy. The current account deficit accounts for a large portion of the government budget and has a chronic character. In 2015, the current account deficit declined as a result of the economic stagnation.  Inflation is higher than the EU average. The poverty rate and Gini-coefficient have higher values than most other European countries and the pace of convergence to the EU average is slow. A major problem in this regard is the dysfunctional education and vocational training system.  The current political tensions between business groups and the governments give the unions and pro-labour groups a large space to manoeuvre for mobilization. If this potential is properly exploited with further institutional assistance by the European Union, the labour unions may enjoy new opportunities to expand their memberships and pursue a more aggressive strategy in the near future.  The four noteworthy developments in the government’s labour policies are the changes in the severance pay system, a raise in the minimum wage above the inflation rate, changes in maternity leave rights, and amendment of the Labour Code to facilitate the private employment agencies.