RESPONSIBLE ENTREPRENEURSHIP VISION DEVELOPMENT AND ETHICS

The history of Turkish industry in Romania, and
key milestones in its socio-economic and political evolution
Agaoglu FILIZ
Bucharest University of Economic Studies
Faculty of International Business and Economics
filizagaoglu1984@gmail.com
Abstract: The modern Muslim population has climbed to approximately 1.6 billion people on an international
scale, accounting for under a quarter of the world total at 23.4% (Desilver, 2013). This statistic means
Islam ranks as the second largest religion after Christianity, which today stands at 31.5% (Pew Research
Center, 2012). Furthermore, it is forecasted that the Muslim population will meet the 2.2 billion mark by
2030, which would increase its global proportion by more than 25%; however, this is contingent on the 2030
world population remaining the same as 2014. The Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is the
largest Islamic group which comprises of 57 countries that are mostly predominantly Muslim, and they also
have a combined GDP in excess of $8 trillion U.S Dollars, generating a unified market valued at $2.4 trillion
U.S Dollars (Alserhan, 2010). Turkey’s Muslim population stands at 97.8% (Konda, 2007), which places
a significant weight on the inter-cultural dynamics of its trading operations integrating into Romanian markets,
a country which is predominantly Christian. Taking into account the statics covered thus far, it is the
intention of this study to highlight the importance of cultural cohesion when discussing the key political and
economic challenges of Turkish businesses venturing into Romania, even though it will be clearly mentioned
that the early power struggles between other neighbouring nations set the tone for a strong profitable bond
between the two nations.
Keywords: inter-cultural cohesion, Islam, Turkish culture.
Introduction
Turkey and Romania are not only conveniently located close to each other geographically,
but they also share common roots in their historical political challenges, which will be outlined
later as one of the key fortifications of the business relationship they have today. Citizens
of Turkey and Romania occupied society alongside each other for a few hundred years
that many would characterize as peaceful and friendly. It is, in part, due to this early intercultural
connection that both nations have been influenced by each other over time, which
can be evident in multiple domains such as partially shared language with two thousand words