The Justice and Development (AKP) Party swept to victory in November, partly as a result of its pledge to improve the country's economic system by boosting revenue and lowering spending without increasing the burden on its poorer citizens, and the proposed tax on self-employed workers was seen as one way of accomplishing this.

However, according to Reuters, after the TOBB union warned that the government would 'face the consequences' if the proposal became law, deputy AKP group head, Salih Kapusuz announced on Thursday that the tax would be withdrawn from the draft legislation.

Instead, the Turkish government will extend until 2005 a tax levied on mobile phones and the internet, although this is also likely to prove unpopular with certain sectors of Turkish society.