The Economist (June 4)
“For the past two years Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, has pursued a zany policy of trying to bring down inflation by making borrowing cheaper. It is precisely the opposite of what any mainstream economist would advise, and it was never going to work.” His new cabinet “includes Mehmet Simsek, a voice of economic orthodoxy.” The new treasury and finance minister has said “Turkey has no choice left but to return to a rational basis” for policymaking. “Such words will be music to the ears of many foreign investors, who have given up on Turkey over the past couple of years. But they will not count for much unless they are backed up by concrete steps to fix the country’s economy.”
Tags: Borrowing, Cabinet, Cheaper, Economist, Erdogan, Finance Minister, Inflation, Mainstream, Orthodoxy, Policy, Rational, Simsek, Treasury, Turkey
Wall Street Journal (October 12)
“President Trump prides himself on one-on-one diplomacy, but too often it results in rash and damaging decisions like his abrupt order Sunday for U.S. troops to retreat from northern Syria. Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan is now dictating terms to the American President, and the consequences are likely to be felt far beyond Syria and Turkey.”
Tags: Abrupt, Damaging, Decisions, Diplomacy, Erdogan, Pride, Rash, Retreat, Syria, Troops, Trump, Turkey, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (October 8)
Trump is deserting the Kurds who helped defeat ISIS. “On Sunday, the White House announced that American forces will cede the area to Turkish troops. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is now free to wage war on Syria’s Kurds, who were America’s most important allies against ISIS.” The retreat from Syria “will also signal to U.S. allies that the White House can’t be trusted.”
Washington Post (September 27)
“In the case of Ukraine, the president is accused of using the awesome power of the United States…to serve his personal political gain. Sadly, this is part of a pattern of violations of democratic norms.” While “Trump is a particularly egregious example” he fits a “global trend” of misbehavior that extends to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hungary’s Viktor Orban.
Tags: Democratic, Duterte, Egregious, Erdogan, Hungary, India, Johnson, Misbehavior, Modi, Norms, Orbán, Philippines, PM, Political gain, Power, Trump, Turkey, U.S., UK, Ukraine, Violations
The Guardian (July 26)
“The political sphere, so dull and grey a few years ago, is now populated by preposterous exhibitionists. This trend is not confined to the UK – everywhere the killer clowns are taking over. Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage, Donald Trump, Narendra Modi, Jair Bolsonaro, Scott Morrison, Rodrigo Duterte, Matteo Salvini, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Viktor Orbán and a host of other ludicrous strongmen – or weakmen, as they so often turn out to be – dominate nations that would once have laughed them off stage. The question is why? Why are the technocrats who held sway almost everywhere a few years ago giving way to extravagant buffoons?”
Tags: Clowns, Dull, Duterte, Erdogan, Exhibitionists, Farage, Johnson, Modi, Orbán, Political sphere, Preposterous, Salvini, Strongmen, Technocrats, Trend, Trump, UK
Washington Post (March 30)
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s is facing his biggest threat in years. He has tried to stack the deck for his candidate in the Istanbul election, “but this ploy appears to have backfired. Some polls are predicting a serious loss for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its nationalist allies.”
Bloomberg (March 28)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to create a “New Turkey,” but this is leaving “millions unmoored” as the “massive shift away from agrarian lifestyles” destabilizes “the country’s food supply and cost many their livelihoods.”
Tags: Agrarian, Erdogan, Food supply, Lifestyles, Livelihoods, President, Shift, Turkey, Unmoored
Washington Post (August 14)
“Even in a world where the United States’ military and diplomatic power seems to be in retreat, there is an element of the U.S.-led order that’s as strong as ever — our dominance of the global economy.” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey “may think he can bluff his way through the Brunson crisis, but Turkish banks, construction companies and bondholders know better. In the still-global economy, going it alone really isn’t an option… This summer, as ever, we sink or swim together.”
Tags: Banks, Bondholders, Brunson, Construction, Crisis, Diplomatic, Dominance, Erdogan, Global economy, Military, Power, Retreat, Turkey, U.S.
New York Times (March 4)
“There can be little doubt now.” President Donald Trump “truly sees no danger in Mr. Xi’s ‘great’ decision to extend his own rule until death. That craven reaction is in line with Mr. Trump’s consistent support and even admiration for men ruling with increasing brutal and autocratic methods—Vladimir Putin of Russia, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, to name a few.”
Tags: Admiration, Autocratic, Brutal, China, Duterte, Erdogan, Philippines, Putin, Rule, Russia, Trump, Turkey, U.S., Xi
Financial Times (April 19)
“After 15 years of Mr Erdogan’s tightening grip, first as prime minister and now as president, almost half the population said a resounding No to one-man rule.” Still, they did not prevail. “What Turks now face is not a French or US-style presidency but something like Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin rule — and half the country knows this well.”
