The BRICs and Turkey (5)
Fatih Özatay, PhD
22 January 2013
The picture is quite clear for Turkey: it cannot sustain the recent economic performance unless the mentioned conditions change. This is the last commentary of the series which compared the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China), Turkey and South Korea in terms of major economic indicators. Here are the results:
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If you cannot create a new world, you have to bear with the old one
Güven Sak, PhD
22 January 2013
Turkey is asking people’s help in combating terrorism in its territories, yet it is reluctant to take steps itself. As of the end of February 2013, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will suspend Turkey’s membership for not introducing a legal framework to eradicate terrorist financing networks. Turkey is asking people’s help in combating terrorism in its territories, yet it is reluctant to take steps itself. The related legislation has yet to be enacted. It will be negotiated by the Justice Commission soon. If the legislation is not enacted and the FATF suspends our membership, Turkey for the first time will be left out of the international community. It will join the black list with North Korea and Iran. It will be mentioned together with the outcasts. Please note that there is no ot
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An Uber-Crazy Project Proposal for Istanbul: Relocating the Bosphorus
19 January 2013
We haven’t heard much of the so-called “the crazy project” for Istanbul since the general election of 2011. I would like to present my humble contributions to its fulfillment, just in case it is still in the works. My goal: to make the crazy project even crazier.
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Growth accelerations
Fatih Özatay, PhD
19 January 2013
Achieving high growth rates is not a rare phenomenon. There is a study released in 2005 on this issue (the details f the study are given below). The authors examine the cases for rapid acceleration in economic growth which lasted at least eight years. They differentiate these episodes from typical takeoffs after economic contraction. The episodes they analyze mark an increase in per-capita growth of 2 percentage points and a post-acceleration growth rate of at least 3.5 percent a year sustained for at least eight years.
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BDP represents Kurdish Turks
Güven Sak, PhD
19 January 2013
In Diyarbakır, thousands peacefully participated in the funeral of three Kurdish activists killed in Paris. It was a political show of strength for the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). So much depends on the political capability of the BDP this time. Political problems need to be solved by political means. Kurdish Turks now have that opportunity in the BDP for the first time. Let me explain.
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70 percent of children cannot surpass their parents
Güven Sak, PhD
18 January 2013
In Turkey, the level of education has not changed from one generation to the next as 91 percent of families have educations of elementary school level or below. In Turkey there is a common belief that parents do all they can to ensure that their children are better educated than they are. Another common myth is that the major reason for the rural to urban migration in Turkey is to provide better education opportunities for children. I still hear this argument here and there. But the statistics do not validate this: 60 percent of the children in Turkey have the same educational attainment level as their parents. They are unable take a step further. Nazım Hikmet’s poem, that says “I am ahead of my father, before my unborn child,” does not apply. Turkey increasingly has been reproducing its s
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The PKK’s European front organization: a weak link in the chain
Nihat Ali Özcan, PhD
17 January 2013
Negotiations between the Undersecretary of the National Intelligence Organization on behalf of the Turkish government and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan continues. Öcalan made an important gesture in the first stage of negotiations by ending the hunger strikes that could have significantly troubled the government. Although this gesture consolidated his power, other challenges lie ahead. Still, the process will continue according to a specific plan and mutually made promises.Time will test both the perseverance of the government and the integrity and discipline of the PKK. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will try to face his opponents in the political system as he keeps negotiating with the PKK. This he will have to do in the wake of th
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The BRICs and Turkey (4)
Fatih Özatay, PhD
17 January 2013
Turkey cannot sustain the recent high growth performance unless it makes a breakthrough in overcoming the major bottlenecks. The last time I cited a quite recent study. According to that, countries that jumped their GDP per capita with a strong growth performance over a long time were unable to sustain high growth rates. The analysis of the periods of rapid growth starting in the 1950s showed that the high-growth trend halted as respective countries reached GDP per capita of $10,000 and $15,000. And GDP growth rates decreased remarkably then. This study uses a database which is often cited in this type of studies: the Penn World Table developed by the Center for International Comparisons at the University of Pennsylvania. The data for 2010 was recently released. According to this, Turkey’s
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What does an engineer do in Turkey?
Güven Sak, PhD
15 January 2013
The problem is about the system. Engineers in Turkey do not practice engineering because of deindustrialization. I grew up watching the Star Trek series. The USS Enterprise was full of engineers. They rushed into the engine room as Klingon attacks deactivated power plants one after another. They stepped up if communication failed. They were at the center of the story. Engineering was a prestigious profession in the 1960s. It is not so in today’s Turkey, however.
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