From the early to mid-2000s, Turkey’s scrapyards secured the right to lease their plots at the dedicated ship-recycling area at Aliaga from the government on a 20-year basis instead of the previous five years.This allowed them to plough in more capital because they had more time to recoup their investments.

The country was also among the first to sign up to the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (Hong Kong Convention).