employment relations, established by legislation and agreements that bind the home countries of European companies based in Turkey and the entire European Union. These employers’ performance with regards to employment relations should also be evaluated according to European (Union) norms. In addition, many European companies that are not direct investors are also widening their supplier networks to include Turkey. Therefore, while they are not direct parties, they are indirect parties in terms of labour rights. Finally, unions and confederations in Turkey are members of both European and worldwide sector federations, regional union alliances and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). Through these platforms, the state of, and developments in, labour rights in Turkey are discussed at European level. The capital transfers from international investors with respect to their new or existing companies in Turkey, and contributions for their share in domestic companies, reached USD 161.8 billion between 2002 and 2020 January,4 of that amount, 66.7% (USD 108 billion) came from EU countries. International and Constitutional Framework of Workers’ Collective Rights in Turkey Articles 48 and 49 of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey regulate the right and freedom to work. Article 48 dictates that “Everyone has the freedom to work and conclude contracts in the field of his/her choice,” and Article 49 states “Everyone has the right and duty to work. The State shall take the necessary measures to raise the standard of living of workers, and to protect workers and the unemployed in order to improve the general conditions of labour, to promote labour, to create suitable economic conditions for prevention of unemployment and to secure labour peace.” Article 51 of the Constitution regulates the right to join unions: “Employees and employers have the right to form unions and higher organisations, without prior permission, in order to safeguard and develop their economic and social rights and the interests of their members in their labour relations and they also possess the right to become Source: Bianet - [2012 a member of a union and to freely withdraw from Our union rights cannot be prevented! protests of DİSK] As of the end of January 2020 there were 74,227 foreign companies active in Turkey with local operations. For companies in the manufacturing sector, the top manufactured products are chemical materials and products, followed by textile and food products, then beverage and tobacco products. When categorised by country of origin, Germany, with 7,853 companies, ranks first among EU partnership companies, followed by the UK and the Netherlands with 3,303 and 3,214 companies respectively.5 The total for the entire Europe is over 30,000. As demonstrated above, European investments constitute an important part of foreign investments in Turkey. This makes European employers’ conduct concerning labour rights even more important. At this point, it is enlightening to look at the general legal framework of labour rights in Turkey. 4 https://www.sanayi.gov.tr/assets/doc/Uluslararas%C4%B1%20Do%C4%9Frudan%20Yat%C4%B1r%C4%B1m%20 %C4%B0statistikleri.xlsx 5 https://www.sanayi.gov.tr/assets/doc/Uluslararas%C4%B1%20Do%C4%9Frudan%20Yat%C4%B1r%C4%B1m%20 %C4%B0statistikleri.xlsx (Accessed on 11.09.2020). 14 C O L L E C T I V E R I G H T S O F W O R K E R S U N D E R T U R K E Y ’ S C O N T I N U O U S S TAT E O F E M E R G E N C Y T R A D E U N I O N R I G H T S I N E U R O P E A N A N D E U R O P E A N - A F F I L I AT E D E N T E R P R I S E S T H E L E G A L F R A M E W O R K O F T H E S TAT E O F E M E R G E N C Y A N D I T S L I M I T S 15