Turkey's ruling party, the Justice and Development Party or AKP, has built its fortunes by following an aggressive neo-liberal programme which has boosted the finance, real estate and tourism sectors. With the economy weakening, the AKP fears erosion of its support base; this explains why the party can brook no criticism of its economic policies.
On 27 May 2013, Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University published a commentary titled “Why Turkey Is Thriving” in Project Syndicate. He argued, “Long-term growth stems from prudent monetary and fiscal policies, the political will to regulate banks, and a combination of bold public and private investments in infrastructure, skills, and cutting-edge technologies” (Sachs 2013). I was tempted to use the title “Turkey Is Not Thriving” for this article, but Deliveli (2013a) of Hürriyet Daily News has used that title already in his response to Sachs a few days later. I have nothing significant to add to Deliveli’s arguments. There is no doubt that Turkey is not thriving. Which country is thriving these days?
Structural Weaknesses
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