Page 13 - TURKRptFeb22

2.2 Outlook 2022
The Turkey watcher knows they can hardly take their eye off the place for a split second. And in 2022, such sentiments might apply more than ever.
Mired in an unprecedented Turkish lira volatility, the country has entered another phase of escalation in its ongoing collapse in all fields. In January, an energy crisis emerged and industrial production took a hit.
It’s well known by now that chaos has beset Turkey’s economy but it has also crept into almost every sphere from foreign policy to the health system, education system, food security and so on.
The beginnings of Turkey’s full-blown collapse on all fronts—part of which can be accurately described as a financial and economic depression—can actually be found in the aftermath of the failed coup attempt in July 2016.
There has been a nonstop worsening of Turkey’s plight ever since.
The last time Turkey saw the type of food and basic goods shortages that are in evidence today was at the end of the 1970s. It was a time when many people died in clashes between the right and left. The PKK, a Kurdish terrorist organisation, arose on that fertile ground. The chaos paved the way for the 1980 military coup.
With the latest energy crisis, the current situation in the country outdoes what was seen during the balance of payments crisis the country suffered at the end of the 1970s.
The next stop looking back for negative milestones is the first half of the 1940s during World War II, when bread in Turkey was rationed.
Turkey rarely enjoys a “bloodless” year, but 2022 has to be marked out as a candidate that will claim an unmistakably tragic page in history when it comes to violence.
The only hope for the country is that the Erdogan administration will chance its arm in a snap poll.
Ever since the regime lost the Istanbul mayoral election, plus a rerun, in 2019, we have, rather than posing the question of whether Erdogan will lose the next parliamentary and presidential elections, pondered whether any election will be held.
13 TURKEY Country Report February 2022 www.intellinews.com