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Like a number of “intermediate” countries, Turkey manifests some large contrasts between under-development and integration into the global economy, between tradition and modernity. The transport sector, both domestic and international, provides a good example of these rapid, sometimeschaotic developments, which bring deep changes to society and the economy. There are a number of milestones that mark these transformations: 1923, founding of the Republic; 1950, changeover to a multiparty system and first liberalization; 1980, liberalization and deregulation to allow full entry into the globalization process. The article gives an overview of the general structure of the transport sector before focusing on a specific actor, the Association of International Transport Operators ( Uluslararasi Nakliyeciler Dernegi). This increasingly powerful federation of professional road transport carriers seeks to carry significant weight in the new approach to the concept of civil society developing in Turkey.