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Spotlight: Tough agenda awaits new Turkish gov't after elections: analysts

Source: Xinhua    2018-06-23 22:30:16

ISTANBUL, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Regardless of the results of Sunday's elections, the new administration in Turkey will be facing a tough agenda filled with problems waiting to be solved, analysts said.

Some 59 million voters will head to the polling stations to elect their new leader and members of parliament under the new presidential system.

Analysts argued that economic difficulties and "unsolved issues" in foreign policies will be placed on top of the agenda.

"First of all, a severe economic crisis will be waiting for us," said Yusuf Kanli, a columnist with the Hurriyet Daily News.

"Obviously, irrespective of who wins the elections, the faltering economy and suffocating Turkish lira ought to be the priorities of the administration," Kanli told Xinhua.

The rising cost of basic food, fluctuations in the exchange rates with a large amount of foreign debt at hand have already hurt the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), he noted.

The price of potatoes and onions soared by 94 percent and more than 200 percent respectively in the past month.

Turkey's currency has recorded a loss of 25 percent against the U.S. dollar since the beginning of this year, while the Turkish Central Bank raised policy rate by over 10 percentage to 18.75 percent in a bid to curb the decline.

Cahit Armagan Dilek, head of the Ankara-based 21st Century Turkey Institute, noted that "it will not be possible to solve other problems as long as you cannot revive the economy and act on it."

In Dilek's view, the current state of economy indicates that the problem cannot be solved without external support.

"For this reason, a new standby agreement with the International Monetary Fund appears inevitable," he continued.

According to the recent data, Turkey's foreign trade deficit rose to nearly 77 billion U.S. dollars last year.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek has recently said if President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is re-elected with a strong dominance of the AKP in the parliament, they will speed up economic and financial reforms.

The Nation Alliance, established by main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Good Party and Felicity Party, also announced its post-election roadmap.

They pledged to regulate inflation, exchange rate and interest rate, which "went out of control," by creating an environment of confidence normalization process.

Kanli, however, said the environment of trust after the election can only be helpful to some extent because the problem is "chronic."

Foreign policy issues will no longer be encouraging to the new government, Kanli pointed out, as there are "unsolved problems" especially in Iraq and Syria.

Turkey has launched a cross-border operation on June 11 against the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) militants in northern Iraq's Qandil and Sinjar regions.

In addition, the Turkish army, along with the U.S. troops, has started a patrol mission in the northern Syrian town of Manbij earlier this week in a move to clear the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) from the area.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said after implementing the plan in Manbij, Turkish army will consider moving to other cities to clear the entire region of the YPG.

In Dilek's view, new developments that possibly emerge in Iraq and Syria in the near future have the potential to evolve into something against Turkey and "new problems and threats may arise."

"There could be a new wave of migration toward Turkey's border and to go with it, new Salafi terror groups can be formed aimed at infiltrating into the country," he warned.

New tension with Greece and Cyprus that started to appear in the East Mediterranean Sea would also bother the new administration, according to the analysts.

"The Greek Cypriots have recently established close relations with the countries in the region through the natural gas reserves in the area," Selim Sayari, an employee with private NTV broadcaster, told Xinhua.

He said together with Greece, Israel and Egypt, the Greek Cypriots seek ways to extract the natural gas and deliver it to Europe while trying to exclude Turkey.

"However, no one would reach a conclusion without Turkey," Sayari pointed out, urging the new administration to work for an immediate solution in the region.

"Otherwise, there will be an atmosphere of conflict instead of cooperation," he added.

Editor: Li Xia
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Spotlight: Tough agenda awaits new Turkish gov't after elections: analysts

Source: Xinhua 2018-06-23 22:30:16

ISTANBUL, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Regardless of the results of Sunday's elections, the new administration in Turkey will be facing a tough agenda filled with problems waiting to be solved, analysts said.

Some 59 million voters will head to the polling stations to elect their new leader and members of parliament under the new presidential system.

Analysts argued that economic difficulties and "unsolved issues" in foreign policies will be placed on top of the agenda.

"First of all, a severe economic crisis will be waiting for us," said Yusuf Kanli, a columnist with the Hurriyet Daily News.

"Obviously, irrespective of who wins the elections, the faltering economy and suffocating Turkish lira ought to be the priorities of the administration," Kanli told Xinhua.

The rising cost of basic food, fluctuations in the exchange rates with a large amount of foreign debt at hand have already hurt the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), he noted.

The price of potatoes and onions soared by 94 percent and more than 200 percent respectively in the past month.

Turkey's currency has recorded a loss of 25 percent against the U.S. dollar since the beginning of this year, while the Turkish Central Bank raised policy rate by over 10 percentage to 18.75 percent in a bid to curb the decline.

Cahit Armagan Dilek, head of the Ankara-based 21st Century Turkey Institute, noted that "it will not be possible to solve other problems as long as you cannot revive the economy and act on it."

In Dilek's view, the current state of economy indicates that the problem cannot be solved without external support.

"For this reason, a new standby agreement with the International Monetary Fund appears inevitable," he continued.

According to the recent data, Turkey's foreign trade deficit rose to nearly 77 billion U.S. dollars last year.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek has recently said if President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is re-elected with a strong dominance of the AKP in the parliament, they will speed up economic and financial reforms.

The Nation Alliance, established by main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Good Party and Felicity Party, also announced its post-election roadmap.

They pledged to regulate inflation, exchange rate and interest rate, which "went out of control," by creating an environment of confidence normalization process.

Kanli, however, said the environment of trust after the election can only be helpful to some extent because the problem is "chronic."

Foreign policy issues will no longer be encouraging to the new government, Kanli pointed out, as there are "unsolved problems" especially in Iraq and Syria.

Turkey has launched a cross-border operation on June 11 against the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) militants in northern Iraq's Qandil and Sinjar regions.

In addition, the Turkish army, along with the U.S. troops, has started a patrol mission in the northern Syrian town of Manbij earlier this week in a move to clear the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) from the area.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said after implementing the plan in Manbij, Turkish army will consider moving to other cities to clear the entire region of the YPG.

In Dilek's view, new developments that possibly emerge in Iraq and Syria in the near future have the potential to evolve into something against Turkey and "new problems and threats may arise."

"There could be a new wave of migration toward Turkey's border and to go with it, new Salafi terror groups can be formed aimed at infiltrating into the country," he warned.

New tension with Greece and Cyprus that started to appear in the East Mediterranean Sea would also bother the new administration, according to the analysts.

"The Greek Cypriots have recently established close relations with the countries in the region through the natural gas reserves in the area," Selim Sayari, an employee with private NTV broadcaster, told Xinhua.

He said together with Greece, Israel and Egypt, the Greek Cypriots seek ways to extract the natural gas and deliver it to Europe while trying to exclude Turkey.

"However, no one would reach a conclusion without Turkey," Sayari pointed out, urging the new administration to work for an immediate solution in the region.

"Otherwise, there will be an atmosphere of conflict instead of cooperation," he added.

[Editor: huaxia]
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