Page 14 - Turkey Outlook 2023

be a good one if normal conditions apply.

Ekrem Imamoglu could be a good candidate for implementing an IMF
programme. He is flexible and populist. Deva Party chair Ali Babacan, a
former employee of Erdogan who was among those who implemented
the 2001 IMF programme, anticipates a place at the top table for
himself.

However, an interim government would be required to sign an IMF deal
and do the dirty work (some laws and so forth that will hit masses of
people and create discontent among the everyday toilers). This would
mean some shake-ups among the coalition partners and then a
powerful government that would implement the IMF programme will
form.

For an interim regime, Kilicdaroglu would be the candidate to become
president and lead the planned shift back to the parliamentary system,
dispensing with Erdogan’s presidential system. Neo-cons, meanwhile,
have been encouraging Erdogan’s defence minister Hulusi Akar to plot
a coup.

14 Turkey Outlook 2023 www.intellinews.com