So in the past few days I've seen an astonishing number of otherwise non-crazy people advance the bizarre argument that we should excuse Erdogan's shenanigans because he's done so much for the Turkish economy. Of course that's ridiculous but it got me wondering about what kind of impact Erdogan has had on the Turkish economy. Has he worked wonders, as some seem to believe? If not, who/what was responsible for the improvement really? Has he contributed to worsening the economy in less visible ways? Any and all input welcome.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
The answer is yes he and his party have done great things to improve the economy. However a lot of it is based on attracting foreign money and that means that the political instability he is causing by his autocratic tendencies does severe damage. If the rule of law is what the ruler decides it is, that gives people pause to think if their investment is safe in Turkey. Once the foreign money dries up the Turkish economy goes over the cliff. By the way half of the malls opened over the last decade are half empty and underperforming. There are serious indications that part of the reason why Davutoğlu had to go was that Davutoğlu had said that the Turkish state couldn't afford the big projects Erdoğan likes so much any longer.
Congratulations America
I too am seeing mixed answers. On the one hand, greater fiscal discipline, esp. early on. On the other hand, rampant clientelism, unsustainable projects of dubious value, questionable policy wrt interest rates and a worrying over-reliance on foreign investment and debt (worrying because of the possible impact, on investors' perceptions and behavior, of political instability as well as of shenanigans).
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Btw, does the Turkish constitution really explicitly allow or even require the armed forces to intervene eg. when Turkey's secular nature is threatened or in any such situation?
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
As far as I know yes. You should not forget the present constitution was written by the generals who disposed of the civil government in september 1980. The way I understand it, article 4 of the Constitution, which declares even proposals for changes to the first 3 articles illegal was put there to curtail the powers of civil society.
Last edited by Hazir; 07-20-2016 at 11:30 AM.
Congratulations America
Wikileaks has a huge cache of 300,000 Turkish government emails
When the sky above us fell
We descended into hell
Into kingdom come
The only reference I can find is to an amendment, in 2013, of some article of the legal code (unclear if it's in the constitution) that removed the legal justification used for previous coups.
The new article is supposed to read:
“the duty of the Armed Forces is to protect the Turkish homeland against threats and dangers to come from abroad, to ensure the preservation and strengthening of military power in a manner that will provide deterrence, to fulfill the duties abroad with the decision of the Parliament and help maintain international peace”
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Okay, Turkish Armed Forces Internal Service Law, Art. 35.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Appearantly up till 2001 the Constitution itself contained stronger wording enabling the armed forces to act, but that was curtailed by charging the Supreme Court with the powers to rule on constitutionality of laws and changes to the Constitution. Article 35 has been around for a lot longer.
Congratulations America
It took the Turkish security council 5 hours of talks to declare 3 months of a state of emergency. Which makes me wonder why it took them so long.
Congratulations America
Okay folks, will Turkey's agreement with the EU re. refugees hold or will it fall apart due to the demand for visa abolition?
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
http://www.vox.com/world/2017/3/8/14...a-refugees-aid
Can't shake the feeling that this is the beginning of something horrific.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Will nothing stop Gulen's attacks against the Turkish people?
Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"
That was the first thing I thought of; but it appears that they are angry with the USA for working with Syrian kurds associated with the PKK in Turkey.
And the standard Sevres Treaty paranoia.
Congratulations America
Now the Dutch are Nazi's apparently: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39242707
Hazir do you mind if I ask if you have any regrets about getting a home in Turkey now. Things have taken a change much for the worse since you invested there it seems, you have my sympathies
Erdogan and his bunch are certainly making themselves a lot of friends at the moment. That will most likely silently backfire at them.
When the stars threw down their spears
And watered heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?
When the stars threw down their spears
And watered heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39416954
The fact of spying is less surprising than the scale.
Hope is the denial of reality
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/18/po...ent/index.html
Since nobody posted this yet. What I find interesting is that Erdogan apparently feels untouchable enough to do something like that in the USA without repercussions.
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
https://www.facebook.com/amerikanins...8768770105442/
Sorry for facebook, but it's the best quality video of the incident I've seen.
But he is untouchable, that is the whole thing. They need him just enough to let him get away with it.
Congratulations America
And now we learned he doesn't like the word arena. Which led to the change of name of a bunch of sport stadiums.
Congratulations America