139 COMPETITION LAW Coca Cola’s Commitments in the Recent Competition Investigation* Can Yıldız Introduction A commitment procedure has only recently been introduced to Turkish competition law practice. The procedure was introduced on 16.06.2020 with the amendment to Law No.4054 on the Protection of Competition, and has been utilized for over a year now. In this brief time frame, although the recent Coca Cola Satış ve DağıtımA.Ş. (“CCSD”) commitment case was not the first of its kind, it was one of the most discussed among competition law practitioners due to the extensive commitments. The Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) investigated CCSD, the distributor of Coca Cola products in Turkey, pursuant to Turkish Competition Board’s (“Board”) decision of 02.04.2020. This decision was based on the claim that CCSD has abused its dominance in the Turkish cola market. The investigation especially concerned the allegations that CCSD obstructed the activities of its competitors and prevented entry to the market through restrictions on access to merchandising refrigerators, utilization of exclusivity clauses in their agreements, loyalty discounts, and similar practices that led to exclusivity. During the investigation process, CCSD made an application in accordance with Communiqué No. 2021/2 on the Anti-Competitive Agreement, Concerted Practices and Decisions, and Communiqué on Commitments to be Submitted in Preliminary Investigations and Investigations on Abuse of Dominant Position published in the Official Gazette dated 16.03.2021. * Article of September, 2021
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