Koc Gives Turkey Hope

The story detailed Koc’s ascent into the upper markets of European appliances, proving the worth of its workers and their products while refuting European prejudices about Turkish manufacturing.

"People think Turks can’t make anything decent," said Valerie Lubineau, Chief of Marketing for the French branch of Beko, which is a brand of Koc. "We gave them arguments to break the taboo."

Beko eventually surpassed the European competition in quality.

The article informed readers that the EU would determine whether to begin membership negotiations with Turkey in December and predicted that the negotiations would probably take ten years and could possibly fail. For the Wall Street Journal, the approaching debate is more profound than market access and confronts arguments regarding "where to draw the eastern edge of the western world."