Investing in human capital, on the other hand, means caring for people and for whatever they think and believe.

Good things happen in Turkey, too. The greater municipality of Ankara has surprised me for the first time. It is changing the sidewalks of the city. I know, they do this often, but this time they are changing the sidewalks to enable sight-disabled pedestrians to walk easily with their sticks. A pilot scheme has been implemented on Bülten Street in the district of Çankaya, though only a 30-meter part for now. They have laid yellow tactile guide blocks that sight-disabled pedestrians can follow. I have seen tactile platforms also at Esenboğa and Istanbul Atatürk airports. I want to consider this the first step in respecting humans, in particular pedestrians. We are currently going through a period in which Turkey has to design new policies to escape the middle-income trap. Let me tell you what I am talking about exactly.

Some of you might ask what I am talking about in the middle of more significant problems. It is a period in which we are watching anxiously the developments in Şemdinli, where government officials rather than individuals are deciding what is and what is not a holy shrine; in a nutshell, everything has been breaking apart. So, what can we do? We were late, and they wanted to solve all of the ancient problems of Turkey at the same time. If you are saying that there is enough reason for being pessimistic, I agree with you on that. But I think that when we observe a new approach in favor of the sight-disabled and pedestrians, we should not overlook the good. So, why exactly do I care about this new investment in a 30-meter length of sidewalk? Turkey has $10,000 GDP per capita. For a country like Turkey, it will be harder to improve the GDP per capita from $10,000 to $25,000 than it was to achieve $10,000. It will be even harder to do it in eleven years, by 2023. South Korea achieved this in nineteen years. TEPAV economist Esen Çağlar wrote  about this in a commentary that can be found on TEPAV’s website. In order to jump from $10,000 to $25,000, Turkey has to establish an institutional infrastructure that can strengthen its human capital, clear away the barriers in front of individuals, and invest in people. It is the only way.

The last time I saw the sidewalks with tactile blocks for the sight-disabled was in South Korea’s capital, Seoul. I was so envious about their sidewalks, which were actually built for walking, that I wrote a commentary titled “I Felt Like a Loser in Seoul.” Seeing that the same human-centered approach is talking place in Çankaya, Ankara, I was delighted. Turkey will be able to upgrade its per capita income from $10,000 to $25,000 only by investing in its people. This is why I have been desperately waiting to be surprised. This is why I am attempting to create a myth based on a 30-meter sidewalk. And this is what the “middle income trap” that the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's Association and the Turkish Industry and Business Association have been talking about recently: It is a blindness that misses the fact that some pedestrians are sight-disabled. Investing in human capital, on the other hand, means caring for people and for whatever they think and believe, respecting people’s contracts, and giving them their due in all areas. If there is peace, people can focus on their own issues and innovate. If one can realize oneself, one can find peace. This is the exact qualitative change that can overcome the middle-income trap.

Have you seen the picture of the Korean peninsula taken at night from the sky? The south glares while the north is pitch black. Only the oceans are as dark as North Korea at night. South Korea respects the individual; North Korea doesn’t. This is why the former has a GDP per capita above $25,000 and the latter has $2,000. Both countries come from the same culture and discipline. They are the same on that account. Indeed, the peninsula has won a lot of medals at the London Olympics. North Korea has won five while South Korea has won twenty-three, ranking fourth in the overall medal count.

The difference between the two is that South Korea has the institutional infrastructure that supports the accumulation of human capital. Authoritative countries too can win medals, but if the country lives in complete darkness, the number of medals will be fewer and its people poorer.

So, let me say this in advance and save my soul.

This commentary was published in Radikal daily on 10.08.2012