The fact that the Government has finally realised that it has a 50% chance to win the elections drove it to deal with many promises that has been on the agenda for a very long time. Including the EYT (elimination of age requirement for retirement), the cancellation of interviews in recruitment to government jobs, and many other commitments, which were originally promised to be undertaken by the Opposition, the Government started to put those into effect, one by one.
This goes to show that a powerful opposition also means a powerful government. Sadly, in Turkey, “power” is mostly understood as dominating everything, but it would be substantially better if it was known as the power to do things for the benefit of the society. As far as I can see, the members of the Government have not reached a complete consensus on the implicit capital control by the Central Bank. Therefore, I highly expect a gradual change in the CBRT’s policies or management. If the Nation Alliance wins, however, both will change at the same time, that’s for sure.
As I always say, in an environment where there is a crisis every day, managers constantly feel the need to intervene. But, they ignore the fact that these interventions lead to more crises. Until the elections, we will witness monetary authorities and other regulatory bodies constantly intervene in the markets. However, as this is not sustainable practice, they will have to let the markets be once the elections are over. To be honest, seeing in the Official Gazette that the legislation that had changed the previous day is changed again and more drastic measures are introduced every morning is not settling at all.
In a live broadcast I joined with well-known economists and journalists Barış Esen and Hakan Güldağ this morning, I said: “We have two options ahead of us: the economic model will either get tougher or Turkey will gradually return to the market economy. There is no middle ground. Because we are already in the middle of it and it should be understood by now that the current model does more harm than good.”
I wish everyone a very good holiday and I hope that this holiday will bring blessings to our country.
