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Yes, Turks feel the impact
“Is the guy on the street feeling it?” someone asked me this week. The “it” here refers to the economy of course. His intention, I gather, was to understand why the…
A change of political arena in Idlib
During these days, when domestic policies are occupying the agenda, interesting developments are happening in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib. Syrian leader…
All the reserves in the world will not suffice
Rulers have to live with their decisions. There is a point in Shakespeare’s famous play where Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking. She has recently plotted with her husband the…
Why I am optimistic about Turkey
Turkey may look vulnerable to you. When President Erdoğan was elected back in June 2018, you could buy a dollar with 4.71 Lira. Now it costs around 5.97 Lira. This means…
The EU’s hot air balloon and Turkey
When it comes to global politics, we all know that the European Union (EU) is in a sorry state. One of its three most powerful members is leaving, its inbred…
Migrating from Turkey’s governing block
“Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action” writes Ian Fleming in Goldfinger . Since I am not James Bond, I’m inclined to replace “enemy…
Next time it will be the economy
There are two types of countries in our region: countries where you know the results of an election before votes are counted, and those where you have to wait for the…
Much ado about nothing
That’s how I see things in the financial markets this past week. Why? There’s nothing there about economic policy. It’s all about politics. Turkey is going to the polls…
In banks Turks trust
Looking at the economy these days, there are things that I understand and there are things that I have difficulty in understanding. The recent rapid rise in retail…
All eyez on Turkey
In December 1995, the American rapper 2Pac (Tupac Amari Shakur) was on MTV, talking about his new album. “It's called All Eyez on Me . That's how I feel it is. I got the…
Conservative debates in Turkey and Germany
“The times they are-a changin’” sang Bob Dylan in the 1960s. That got to me sometimes. Aren’t they always “a-changin’?” Isn’t that what time is? Not necessarily. The…
Turkey as Einwanderungsland
I see two important trends shaping the future of the global debate: the first is population aging and the second is migration. It’s an old story in a new setting. People…