Turkey’s current situation is ‘graver than 2001 economic crisis’

* Photo: İYİ Party

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Opposition İYİ Party Chair Meral Akşener spoke at the Development Congress of her party today (February 10). Akşener talked about the current economic situation in Turkey and its effects on citizens.

Underlining that Turkey cannot bear economic instability any longer, Akşener argued that the Presidential Government System "triggered this state crisis, which will go down in history as the 'Erdoğan crisis'." Referring to the high inflation figures as well, Akşener raised concerns that Turkey has become one of the five countries with the highest inflation rate.

"Over the past four years, Turkish Lira has lost half of its value. With Turkish Lira losing its value, our foreign trade deficit has seen a 10-year high. Our term of trade has seen the lowest level in our history. We have to export more to import on the same level," noted Akşener, adding:

"In this economic crisis, the Central Bank has been so disgraced that the connection between the policy rate and market interests has completely broken off. In fact, the Minister of Treasury and Finance did not even invite the Central Bank officials to the meetings held abroad.

"As a result of this mindset hostile to concepts of planning and risk analysis, our industrialists were left without electricity for days.

With irrational policies in effect, the private sector has been unable to offer employment. While unregistered unemployment has been on the increase, the minimum wage, which they boasted for raising, has remained below the starvation line at the end of the first month.

'Recent policies are not the sole reason'

Against this backdrop, İYİ Party Chair Meral Akşener said, "Today, there is unfortunately a Turkey where people are equal in terms of the minimum wage; there is a Turkey, the future of which is uncertain, and which has been confined to poverty and inequality."

Referring to the days-long power cut across Isparta province amid snowfall and harsh winter conditions, high electricity and natural gas prices and the people waiting in lines for hours to buy cheap bread from the buffets of municipalities, Meral Akşener briefly added the following:

"The only reason behind this economic crisis that we have found ourselves in is not the recently pursued policies.

"In the period from 2003 to 2020, so, when the AK Party was in power, Turkey unfortunately could not write a history of growth despite the abundance of global liquidity and low interest rates.

"For instance, between 1981-2002, our country used to grow by 2.1 percent more than other developing countries. This gap dropped to below 1 percent in the period from 2003 to 2020.

"The foundations for this entire negative picture have been laid since the first years of the AK Party rule. And, today, a picture that is graver than the 2001 crisis has come up in our country." (AS/SD)