A little reminder to those who will take office after the elections.

The 1990s have been called the “Golden Years” in the global economy, especially in advanced economies. The Golden Years began with Clinton in 1993 and came to an end with the terrorist attack of September 11. The Turkish economy, on the other hand, has been quite volatile during that period. The 1994 financial crisis and the prominent political instability were two chief characteristics that marked the 1990s for the country.

 

In the following years, the world economy has improved significantly, which lasted until 2008. Similarly, having started to do the right things, Turkey too managed to ameliorate its economy and to keep inflation, growth, interest and exchange rates under control despite the banking crisis in 2001. Its strong, amicable ties with the West and the steps it took to perfect justice and equality for its citizens enabled the country to withstand the global economic crisis.

 

Everything was going quite well until 2011 when tensions began to grow between the government and certain organizations that had been supporting it. These tensions remained almost hidden until the wave of demonstrations that began on 28 May 2013 and gradually became worse and worse as the government was confused about when to show compassion and when to show strength and determination. In 2015, the first of two-round elections were held in June, and the second in November. Meanwhile, as the members of the ruling party were having violent arguments among each other, the country’s political composition was worn out in the process. Changes to the political system and constitutional amendments were the two main topics on the opposition’s agenda. However, despite all this turmoil, Turkish lira managed not to depreciate as sharply as expected, which was probably due to the fact that the Government was not used to constantly intervening in the markets at the time.

 

Those who were preparing to implement their secret agenda for quite some time finally decided to carry out their treacherous plans, taking advantage of the unstable political environment and civil unrest. 15 July 2016, one of the greatest misfortunes that our republic has survived, was perhaps the very beginning of the economic and political difficulties we are currently experiencing. Since that day, Turkey has not been having a single calm day.

 

The economic difficulties experienced in 2018 and 2019 were similarly due to the country’s gradual move away from the free market economy. Already hit by political and economic troubles, the COVID-19 pandemic caught Turkey totally unprepared.

 

The lessons we should learn from all these problems is:

 

– When we abandon the principles of the free market economy, we become even more vulnerable to the side effects of global crises.

– The tense political environment may help those who govern the country win votes but, in the process, it deeply damages the country and its people.

– When making international alliances, we must take a strong diplomatic stand against wrongs, regardless whether they are the wrongs of the East or the West.

– We must abide by the founding principles of our Republic and therefore avoid forming alliances with leaders who are considered criminals by the international community and the international law.

– We must keep a distance with Russia and Arab Countries and not interfere in their internal affairs.

– We must manage our US and Israel policies in complete coordination with each other.

– We must accept that disasters can happen any time and learn from our past mistakes we made in emergency response and preparedness.

– We must understand that our country will grow when the economy grows, but it will develop and flourish when art, sports, culture, equality and justice develop and flourish.

– No citizen must be judged by their faith, but by their good deeds.

 

This article does not aim to offend anyone. It is merely my humble attempt to write a small list of useful suggestions to those in government and opposition positions who might be suffering from institutional blindness .

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