There are many problems with Turkey but some problems are more easily surmountable than others. Bad governance is at the top of the problem tree. 

 

I have just returned from a two week stay there.  On this occasion, more than any other, I witnessed the low mood engulfed around the country. It’s a given that Turks aren’t the most jovial of people, particularly Istanbul’ers, however, this year more than most, they look visibly downbeat.

 

I accept that the pandemic has impacted the world and that this is a contributory factor to the low morale endemic here, but I think that the source of dismay goes further than just the pandemic and the cost of living crisis squeezing the life out of ordinary citizens. The country is experiencing an unprecedented economic crash caused by the rapid devaluation of the Lira, which has spiralled to its lowest level in years. £1 is currently worth around 20 lira, up from 10 Lira only a matter of weeks ago. The pandemic cannot be the scapegoat for this economic turmoil. This is fairly and squarely the fault of bad economic policies emanating from bad national governance. 

 

This brings me to my main point. The problem with Turkey is its bad governance – both locally and nationally. Not something you can easily say out here. The President has a very low tolerance threshold and criticism could easily find you in court facing insult charges, especially if you are able to think critically and are vociferous in your views – everything a good citizen should endeavour to be.  

 

Turkey has huge potential. An entrepreneurial work force, a highly smart IT savvy generation and plenty of intellectual talent. What it doesn’t have is the capacity to mobilise and motivate its work force. Something that needs to come from the top. 

 

Another problem that stalls Turkey is the stark polarisation there: Nationalist/Progressive, Religious/Secular, Right wing/left wing. If its citizens could better recognise the futility of these outdated human concepts and refrain from identifying with them, I have no doubt that in time they will also reject the reactionaries that govern them and stoke these ideas. Not something that will be achieved without improved education and an overhaul of the national curriculum. There needs to be less nationalism and more internationalism at the heart of schools. 

 

Coming back to a cursory review of the main problems in Turkey, it is evident that illiteracy is a national policy there when we consider that regressive autocratic leaders hip has been in power for almost two decades with the support of the rural electorate despite educational standards falling not improving within this time. It is in the interests of autocrats to sustain illiteracy and outdated systems of political governance because these groups more readily identify with core conservative Islamic values. Despite an abundance of human capacity, it is dogged down by bad governance, bad policies and an insufficiently educated and skilled work force. 

 

There is a wasted generation of young progressives who feel that they have no choice but to move their skills abroad where a better quality of life awaits them.  Although, nobody has it all. Take us here in the UK. In modern times, both politically and economically, things have never been so bad. But for young educated Turks thinking about relocating to the UK, the only ‘choice’ they have is between the lesser of two evils!