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Muslim/Turkish merchants, who represented one of the main social bases of National Economic policies, founded local and national banks that played crucial roles in the economic and political life of the empire in the first quarter of the twentieth century. The National Economy was also a project that incorporated the hegemony of the ruling class with a social base, behind which operated the social mobilisation of members of various social classes such as merchants, businessmen, shop owners, employees, and workers who made deposits at national banks. Therefore, the dominance of Turkish banks in the financial system at the time and the success of policies of Turkification should be seen as being related to the needs of those social classes.