Turkey’s breaks with the past
Güven Sak, PhD
20 December 2020
Dec. 17 was the 10th anniversary of the Arab Spring. When young Egyptians flooded Tahrir Square all those years ago, I was fascinated. I thought change was in the air, that our region could change for the better in a very short amount of time.
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Turkey to be in list of top 10 largest world economies by 2050
Güven Sak, PhD
13 December 2020
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, passed away on Nov.10, 1938. Every year on Atatürk’s death anniversary, his successors visit his mausoleum to pay their respects and speak on the state of the nation. This year while paying his tributes at the mausoleum to commemorate the death anniversary of Ataturk, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, “As we have ensured that our country reached its goals in many areas, so too, God willing, we will make sure that our country places among the top 10 economies in the world. I believe that will the greatest gift to Ghazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.” Turkey is now at number 17. The president often speaks of the year 2023 as a marker for such goals. Looking at the basic economic indicators, I think that this would be doable. Let me elaborate.
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Headwinds require more transparency
Güven Sak, PhD
05 December 2020
If you are flying a plane, headwinds are a bad thing. According to one pilot manual, “they slow you down and require that you use more fuel to get to your destination.” That’s what I see in Ankara today, regarding the course correction of the economy. Headwinds are slowing down the process and increasing its cost.
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COVID-19 is good for businesswomen
Güven Sak, PhD
28 November 2020
You may have spent the day like any other, but the Thursday before last, November 19, was a special time of the year – it was women’s entrepreneurship day (WED). The United Nations has organized meetings on this day since 2014 to discuss the state of women who launch their own businesses. Perusing this year’s output of research, I was surprised to see information indicating that COVID-19 has not been bad for women in Turkey. Let me elaborate.
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Course correction in Ankara
Güven Sak, PhD
22 November 2020
In 1849, the historian Thomas Carlyle wrote, when discussing the discipline of economics: “Not a ‘gay science,’ I should say, like some we have heard of; no, a dreary, desolate and, indeed, quite abject and distressing one; what we might call, by way of eminence, the dismal science.”
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Track change in Ankara?
Güven Sak, PhD
15 November 2020
After Margaret Thatcher became prime minister in 1979, many said that she would do a “U-turn” away from the economic liberalization reforms she had promised. The iron lady would disappoint them. “To those waiting with bated breath for that favorite media catchphrase, the 'U-turn', I have only one thing to say” she said, “you turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning!”
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Revenge of the places that don’t matter
Güven Sak, PhD
08 November 2020
It was Andres Rodriguez-Pose of the London School of Economics (LSE), who saw “the revenge of the places that don’t matter, in the 2016 Brexit vote in the U.K., the 2016 election of Donald Trump in the U.S., the 2016 Austrian presidential election, the 2017 French presidential election, and the 2017 German general elections.” All of those votes were about regional inequalities.
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Three tasks for G20
Güven Sak, PhD
01 November 2020
In three weeks, the leaders of the world’s most “systemically important” countries are due to meet in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the 15th summit of the G20. It used to be an important event in the geopolitical calendar where many serious financial, environmental and political problems were addressed in its summits. With the election of Donald Trump in 2016, as well as many other nationalist and populist leaders, the importance of the G20 has declined.
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Saudi ban shows importance of rules-based trade
Güven Sak, PhD
25 October 2020
Turkey still does not have an ambassador in Tel Aviv, our president campaigns against Israel whenever he gets the chance, and conditions under the COVID-19 pandemic are less than ideal, yet Turkish-Israeli trade continues unhindered. In the first nine months of 2020, Turkey’s exports to Israel amounted to $3.2 billion, almost the same as the export volume of 2019. Troubled political relations between the two countries have not had a direct impact on bilateral trade. There are no calls for boycotts, nor measures to slow down trade between Turkey and Israel. Despite the troubled relationship between Erdoğan and Netanyahu, the system works.
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A Schuman Plan for Cyprus
Güven Sak, PhD
18 October 2020
Turkish Cyprus is due to hold the second round of its presidential elections on Sunday. The tragedy of the situation is that the outcome of the election probably won’t change things too much for the enclave to go forward. Whoever gets elected will have to act within a very narrow margin of choices because the Cyprus conflict is no longer merely about the inhabitants of the island.
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