Srebrenica: 16 Years Later
Erhan Türbedar, PhD
11 July 2011
The 16th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide was commemorated on July 11, 2011. The remains of 613 people were buried in the monumental graveyard in Potoçari near Srebrenica. The DNA tests conducted by the International Commission on Missing Persons resulted in the identification of 6598 Srebrenica victims. This commission puts the approximate number of Bosnians killed in Srebrenice in July 1995 at 8100.
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Why business as usual between Israel and Turkey
Güven Sak, PhD
09 July 2011
The well-known secret around town nowadays is the increasing number of contacts between Israel and Turkey. I don't know whether official contacts are working in the right direction. There are rumors, but when in the economy, there are concrete figures. When it comes to the economy; it is business as usual between Israel and Turkey. Let me tell you why...
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500 billion dollars in exports cannot be achieved with marketing departments
Güven Sak, PhD
08 July 2011
Those who show interest in Turkey are the marketing departments of large globalized companies seeking the country's domestic market. The election is over. The will of the people has been revealed, and all of us are trying to interpret it. Those who take the oath and those who refuse it are all acting in accordance with their own goals. I do not see a problem in that regard. Everything is in order there. Things are more entangled on the economic front. I am not talking about the risks involved with the current account deficit. Everyone, including the administration, is aware of that problem. But there is a structural problem nobody will take on. With your permission, I will touch on this neglected problem today. It is a good time to do so, since the administration is devising its
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What will the Central Bank do from now on?
Fatih Özatay, PhD
07 July 2011
The Central Bank's actions should no longer be thought of in the usual inflation targeting framework. Since mid-2008, early 2009, the previously observed inertia in headline inflation has somewhat been broken. Also, yearly headline inflation, measured according to the core inflation index which has been increasing since October 2010, has been following a downward trend since 2004.
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Israeli army doing its homework
Nihat Ali Özcan, PhD
07 July 2011
Statistics show the number of inter-state conflicts after the end of the Cold War has considerably decreased. Nevertheless, the role of soldiers in security issues has not diminished. It changed character, diversified and got more sophisticated. Politicians and the public want the army to both respond to symmetric threats and deal with terrorism, insurgency, civil wars and peace-building. Generals are not able to quickly adapt to the demands of such hybrid missions, which subsequently leads to an uneasy transition.
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Getting off the blacklist is a good thing
Güven Sak, PhD
05 July 2011
Turkey is acting as a responsible member of the political globalization process. The shares of the Arab Turkish Bank belonging to the Libyan government via the Libyan Foreign Bank have been handed over to Turkey's Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (SDIF.) In a way, Libya's assets have been entrusted to Turkey. Turkey thus has joined the "Kaddafi should go" coalition not just in its rhetoric, but also in action. How should one view this decision from the perspective of Turkey's economy? Why "Libya is not enough, we want Iran, too?" Let's take a look.
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Inflation developments
Fatih Özatay, PhD
05 July 2011
I deeply doubt the extent to which core inflation indicates the core inflation. A month ago, the consumer price increase was announced to be -1.43. This way, inflation, which had been at 7.2 percent in May, went down to 6.2 percent in June. That is the lowest inflation rate in June since 2003. In the period between 2006-2010 inflation rates in June averaged -0.14 percent. The same value for 2007-2010 was -0.26 percent.
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How to make them curious? How to make them study?
Fatih Özatay, PhD
02 July 2011
To benefit from the current education system, one needs to make the students want to work. We cannot get results as long as this is not done. I have been writing a lot on academic life recently. Today I look at it from a different perspective: I am concerned primarily with the student.
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What is the problem with Afghanistan?
Güven Sak, PhD
02 July 2011
Afghanistan was in the news again. But this time, it was different. This time I am not referring to any kind of a terror attack on anywhere but the root cause. The governor of the Central Bank of Afghanistan announced his resignation from his home in Washington's suburbs. That is what I got from the news reports. Mr. Abdulkadir Fıtrat first left Afghanistan for the United States and then made an announcement regarding his resignation somewhere in northern Virginia. The announcement is further proof that the Kabul Bank scandal of last year was not only a bank failure but a government failure. I saw the problem with Afghanistan one more time when I read the news story. Let me tell you about the problem I saw in Afghanistan.
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Heated or not?
Güven Sak, PhD
01 July 2011
Growth is a good thing as long as it is sustainable. Otherwise, it wastes the resources of the private sector. Are you demoralized by the unfruitful economic policy debates in Turkey? Honestly, I am. Today, let me touch upon the ongoing "highly matured(!)," "heated or not" debates. Yesterday, the growth figures for the first quarter of 2011 were announced. Driven by domestic demand, the economy grew above expectations. So it is the right time to touch upon the heating up debates. Has the economy heated up due to the recovery in production? Yes, it has. Is there any indicator of this? Of course there is. The current account deficit is the main indicator. If the current account deficit has reached a historic record, then the economy has heated up to a historic degree. We had better be cautio
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