THE EFFECTS OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS ON TURKEY’S ECONOMY AND THE RECENT TILT IN HER INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Yıl 2011, Cilt: 3 Sayı: 2, 227 - 236, 01.12.2011

Özlen Hiç Birol

Öz

Turkey was one of the worst hit countries from the global crisis that started in
September 2008. She had relied heavily on external financing by charging a high
interest take. Her external debt and current account deficit had risen and the lira
had become overvalued. Following the global crisis, the fall in the flow of
financial funds, direct private investments (DPIs) as well as exports caused a
great fall in her GNP. But though refusing to make a stand-by agreement with the
IMF, she managed to relief relatively fast; gradually lowering the interest rate.
As detailed statistics attest, before the years ‘90s and the onset of globalization
her international economic relations had already started to diversify; with the
share of Middle Eastern Islamic countries and Russia rising. After the 2008
global crisis economic problems in many EU member countries put further brakes
on the EU. Hence, Turkey was obliged to further diversify her exports, imports,
inflow of financial flows, DPIs as well as her outflows; the latter including her
construction undertakings. Therefore, much of the recent tilt in Turkey’s
international economic relations can be considered an outcome of the
globalization process, plus the recent global crisis, necessitated by economic
factors.
Yet many of the recent political moves that the Turkish government has made does
not fit to the picture as an economic contingency. Major cases in point are
Turkey’s over-reactionary hostiles toward Israel, over-support of Hamas and also
of Iran plus the stackening of political reforms, hence membership negotiations
with the EU. It is hard to explain all these excesses with plain economic
contingencies. Evaluations vary; some foreign observers explain it as an effort by
the Turkish government to act as a regional power, others put the major blame of
the cooling relations between Turkey and the EU. Still others may see it as a real
political tilt towards more radical Muslim countries as well as emerging nonWestern
powers. This is less a subject for economic research but one for political
economy.

Anahtar Kelimeler

effects of global crisis, tilt in international relations, detailed statistics

Kaynakça

• Hiç, Mükerrem (2008), A Survey of Turkey’s Economy and Politics, 1923-2007, Create-Space, Amazon.
• ––––– (2009) Küresel Ekonomik Kriz ve Türkiye (Global Economic Crisis and Turkey), İstanbul, Beykent Univ. publication.
• For Statistics (all through the internet). IMF, World Economic Outlook, 2007 and 2009.
• TÜİK (Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu: Turkish Statistics Institution). TCMB (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Merkez Bankası: Turkish Central Bank). HM (Hazine Müsteşarlığı: Under Secretary of Treasury).