Why Fossil Fuels Endure: Structural Constraints on Türkiye’s Green Energy Transition
International Area Studies Review, vol.29, no.2, pp.113-134, 2026 (ESCI, Scopus)
- Publication Type: Article / Article
- Volume: 29 Issue: 2
- Publication Date: 2026
- Doi Number: 10.69473/iasr.2026.29.2.113
- Journal Name: International Area Studies Review
- Journal Indexes: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus
- Page Numbers: pp.113-134
- Keywords: Energy transition, Fossil lock-in, Innovation systems, Policy feedback, State capitalism
- Open Archive Collection: AVESIS Open Access Collection
- Karadeniz Technical University Affiliated: Yes
Abstract
This article examines the institutional obstacles to the green shift in Türkiye. Based on the theoretical approach that combines state capitalism, path dependency, national innovation systems, and policy-feedback mechanisms, it explains how the tax revenues, education-labour market misalignments, and pre-leading status of the defence sector strengthen a crowding-out process that undermines green innovation and human-capital investments. The article not only provides the concept of fiscal lock-in as an insufficiently discussed and a vital aspect of fossil path dependency, but it also highlights indirect carbon rents in non-rentier states as a key process of policy inertia. It synthesises political economy and innovation system views, which adds to the literature on fossil lock-ins and energy transition governance. It also calls for a broader understanding of policy priorities beyond techno-fixes and insists on the need to capture structural aspects of a rapid energy transition, like fiscal policy, human capital trends, and innovation systems, to understand the inertia affecting a rapid transition of the energy mix.