Page 9 - TURKRptJun19

activists in Turkish prisons end their hunger strikes. Ocalan, co-founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) who has been in prison on Imrali island since his capture in 1999, issued his appeal for an end to the hunger strikes in a letter publicised by his lawyers whom officials allowed to see their client in a rare visit. Speculation will now mount that Ocalan is attempting to exploit leverage in the fact that the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan-backed candidate in the June 23 Istanbul revote could do with a substantial number of Kurdish votes. Some observers believe the lawyer visits to Ocalan are related to the Syria conflict.
Economic and democratic deficiencies dog Erdogan as he hits out at Turkish business association and company head. Vulnerable to allegations that he botched Turkey’s economy, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has hit out at critical remarks emanating from the Turkish Industry & Business Association. Erdogan, mired like the rest of his countryfolk in a recession following years of credit-fuelled growth that went off the rails, directed his ire in particular at Tuncay Ozilhan, one of the country’s richest individuals and the head of Anadolu Group. Earlier in the month, Ozilhan last week made comments seen as criticism of Turkey’s economy and governance. The country’s ambition of becoming a trillion-dollar economy is no longer in sight and—following the annulling of the result of the end of March Istanbul mayoral election which saw the shock defeat of Erdogan’s candidate and was widely regarded as a referendum on the president’s 17-year-long rule—the 71-year- old head of Anadolu Group said that Turkey either abides by universal principles of democracy or “it becomes something else”. Turkey must “overcome issues in its governance system,” he added on May 15 in what was a thinly-veiled criticism of the executive presidential system that since last year has concentrated power in the hands of Erdogan, though he was already pretty much regarded as a strongman who brooked no real dissent. “I know how you were doing 17 years ago, and I know how you’re doing now,” Erdogan retorted. “If needed, I can expose that. I know how to bring those who are hitting Turkey from the inside to account.” Erdogan appears to be growing increasingly intolerant of dissent ahead of a re-run of the Istanbul vote on June 23. Ozilhan is Turkey’s 94th richest person, with an estimated wealth of $525mn, according to a 2018 list by Forbes magazine. The companies he chairs include listed conglomerate AG Anadolu Grubu Holding, brewer Anadolu Efes Biracilik ve Malt Sanayii AS, supermarket chain Migros Ticaret AS, Coca-Cola Icecek AS and carmaker Anadolu Isuzu Otomotiv Sanayi ve Ticaret AS.
Turkey needs to stick to free market rules says Isbank chief. Turkey needs to stick to free market rules, Isbank chief executive Adnan Bali said on May 22, warning that imposing controls would harm economic welfare. The head of the Turkish lender did not specify what controls he was referring to, but officials under the Erdogan administration have lately taken a series of steps to the support the battered Turkish lira (TRY) and economy. They have included a one-day settlement on some purchases of forex by individuals, outlining deposit and lending ceilings on banks and pushing private market makers to buy government bonds at lower than market prices. Prior to the end of March local elections, there was even an attempt to squeeze all lira liquidity out of the London offshore swap market. Such are Turkey’s economic troubles that talk of it approaching a sovereign default is becoming more prevalent.
INSIGHT: Democracy? That died long ago. Economic recovery? Don’t bet the farm on it. It wasn’t so long ago that Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was still regarded as a darling of the markets. But even stubborn Erdogan bulls are having a hard time riding the turbulence caused by the annulling of the Istanbul election result and the claims that the executive president is exposing himself as an out and out dictator. An election rerun is to be held on June 23, but anyone counting on the immediate aftermath of that poll bringing stability to Turkey’s economic trajectory needs to sober up—the market uncertainties currently dominating the headlines could prove the most negligible when it comes to the full set of imbalances and ambiguities plaguing the currency-crisis and recession-hit Turkish economy that are still to play out.
9 TURKEY Country Report June 2019 www.intellinews.com