In response to the decision of the 13th Chamber of the Council of State, Competition Board re-evaluated the complaint claiming that various operations Kardemir Karabük Demir Çelik San. ve Tic. A.Ş., Çağ Çelik Demir Çelik Endüstri A.Ş., Çelsantaş Çelik Mamulleri San. ve Tic. A.Ş., Yolbulan Demir San. ve Tic. A.Ş. and Yolbulanlar Nakl. ve Tic. A.Ş. engaged in the iron and steel market were in violation of the Act no 4054.

The preliminary inquiry previously conducted as a result of the aforementioned complaint had examined the operations of Kardemir Karabük Demir Çelik San. ve Tic. A.Ş., Çağ Çelik Demir Çelik Endüstri A.Ş., Çelsentaş Çelik Mamulleri San. ve Tic. A.Ş., Yolbulan Demir San. ve Tic. A.Ş., Yolbulanlar Nakl. ve Tic. A.Ş. in the iron and steel market, and it was decided that the complaint should be rejected and an investigation should not be initiated, with the decision dated 27.01.2011, numbered 11-06/101-34. However, the aforementioned Board decision was annulled with the 13th Chamber of the Council of State's decision dated 22.03.2016 and numbered 2011/2373 E., 2015/777 K.

Discussing the information and documents included in the file on its meeting of 18.08.2016, the Board took the points emphasized in the relevant court decision and took the decision numbered 16-28/477-M in accordance with article 41 of the Act no 4054 to launch an investigation on

− Kardemir Karabük Demir Çelik San. ve Tic. A.Ş.,
− Çağ Çelik Demir Çelik Endüstri A.Ş.,
− Çelsentaş Çelik Mamulleri San. ve Tic. A.Ş.,
− Yolbulan Demir San. ve Tic. A.Ş. and
− Yolbulanlar Nakl. ve Tic. A.Ş.
in order to determine whether there was a violation under articles 4, 6 and 7 of the same Act.

As known, article 4 of the Act no 4054 prohibits agreements and concerted practices between undertakings which restrict competition, article 6 prohibits the abuse of dominant position, and article 7 prohibits mergers and acquisitions which lead to a significant lowering of competition aimed at creating or strengthening a dominant position. The investigation was initiated in order to determine whether various behavior of the aforementioned companies constituted violations under articles 4, 6 and 7 of the Act.

*Investigation decisions taken by the Competition Board are announced to the public following the notification of the decision to the undertakings or associations of undertakings under investigation. These declarations, which are made within the framework of informing the public on Competition Board decisions, cannot be interpreted to mean the undertakings or associations of undertakings under investigation have violated the Act no 4054 and that they have faced or will face sanctions under the Act.