Manish Rai<\/p>\n
Last month, Turkey made it into the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog headquartered in Paris. Turkey now joins its close ally Pakistan in FATF\u2019s crosshairs. Surprisingly, Turkey becomes the largest economy to be included in this list. The FATF listing for Ankara comes on the back of a shaking economy being jolted by the Covid-19 pandemic. And also when Turkey\u2019s geopolitical stature is being weakened further by pursuing a \u201cpunch-above-the-weight\u201d foreign policy. Where President Erdogan wishes to expand Turkish economic, political and military influence into the former regions of the Ottoman empire. Erdogan\u2019s dream of reviving the Ottoman caliphate stems from an idealistic outlook on the splendor of the Ottoman Empire and its extensive capability to influence the political dynamics of two continents i.e. Europe and Asia. Therefore, he wishes to restore the former Ottoman Empire\u2019s hegemony to achieve greater political influence not just in today\u2019s Turkish state but also in the countries and territories formerly part of the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East and Europe. To achieve this over-ambitious dream, the Turkish president is undertaking huge geopolitical risks. As a result of going ahead with this neo-ottoman approach. Turkey has alienated the US, France, other European powers, and major Arab countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt. Hence, now Turks are more or less isolated, without many friends.
\nAs of last year, the Erdogan government\u2019s financial mismanagement had already prompted the biggest funds outflows from Turkey\u2019s debt and equity markets in more than a decade. And has also dried up foreign direct investment (FDI) from Ankara\u2019s traditional economic partners in the West. For Erdogan, who has wielded dictatorial control over Turkey\u2019s finances for almost two decades, Turkey\u2019s inclusion in the grey list of FATF is deeply embarrassing.
\nEven though Turkey failed to comply with FATF\u2019s advice to check money laundering and terror funding, arguably it is its aggressive foreign policy that is at center stage regarding the FATF listing. Under Erdogan, Turkey has embarked on an expansive quest to position itself as a global Islamic power, and a regional superpower in the Middle East. To achieve this, Ankara has ended up opening multiple fronts instead of wholesomely managing regional geopolitics realistically and reasonably. While attempting to position itself as a parallel to the UAE-Saudi power block in the Sunni Islamic world, with political Islam at the core of this approach, President Erdogan has also severely damaged his relations with the US despite being a major NATO ally. He has also developed multiple points of friction with Russia over the crisis in Syria and Libya. On the other geographic front, Turkey also had run-ins with Greece and the extended European interests over access to hydrocarbons in the Mediterranean. Also, involvement in the Syrian and Azerbaijan-Armenia wars has not helped Turks much. Rather, Turkey got punched back for attempting to punch above its weight.
\nBecause of all these disastrous blunders of President Erdogan, the common people of Turkey are paying a very high price. The Turkish economy, over the years, has faced severe challenges led by economic overheating, a currency crisis, shaky morale of foreign investors, and lack of transparency and autonomy. Amid high inflation, widespread youth unemployment, and deepening poverty, the country\u2019s economic situation is looking increasingly grim. On the other hand, the continuous fall of the Turkish lira is also fuelling the current economic crisis. The lira has lost 20 per cent of its value against the US dollar since the start of this year. Even some experts believe that the country is on the verge of a potentially devastating recession.
\nAykan Erdemir, senior director of the Turkey program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank said, \u201cFATF\u2019s grey listing of Turkey will further tarnish the country\u2019s image as a permissive jurisdiction for illicit financial activity.\u201d Also speaking to Al-Monitor Erdemir said, \u201cThis decision will exacerbate capital flight from an economy that has experienced net capital outflows over the last few years.\u201d In addition to this, the World Bank estimated more than 1.5 million Turks fell below the poverty line last year. For Turkish citizens, the prices of essential commodities keep rising. Inflation neared 20 per cent in September. According to Turkey\u2019s largest trade union, more than seven million minimum wage earners face food insecurity. Polls show that almost two-thirds of the Turkish public is struggling to make ends meet.
\nWith each passing day, Turkish people are realising that these economic hardships are not only happening because of economic mismanagement but also due to the exorbitant cost of the expansionist policies of the current government. President Erdogan\u2019s early years in power were marked by solid growth and a development boom. But now, he is becoming an economic disaster, caused by his interference in economic policy, and liability for the country. The nation will lose a great deal if it allows Erdogan to carry on with his misadventures and destroy the military, political and economic links of Turkey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Manish Rai Last month, Turkey made it into the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog headquartered in Paris. Turkey now joins its close ally Pakistan in FATF\u2019s crosshairs. Surprisingly, Turkey becomes the largest economy to be included in this list. The FATF listing for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-226843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-article"],"yoast_head":"\n