Dr. Vugar Bayramov, Member of the Parliament of Azerbaijan
The current president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was re-elected as president in the second round of the election held in Turkey on May 28th, 2023. Mr. Erdogan and his team will rule Turkey for another 5 years. It was announced earlier that there were changes in the government, and therefore a considerable number of cabinet members are already represented in the parliament. This means that in the context of the re-election of the current president in Turkey, the country will enter the next 5 years with different programs.
Despite the volatility, exchange rate drops and inflation observed in the economy of the brotherly country in recent years, Turkey’s economy has grown 3 times in real terms in the last 20 years. Turkey’s economy, which had a GDP of $314 billion in 2003, is now larger than $900 billion. According to the calculations of the International Monetary Fund, this year GDP in Turkey is expected to reach 1 trillion 29 billion dollars. This means that if there are no external shocks, this year Turkey will enter the group of countries with a trillion dollar economy.
Besides, the most serious economic goal in the short term is price optimization and exchange rate stability. High inflation has been recorded in Turkey in recent years due to the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. In April of this year, prices increased by 43.68% in the brother country, where 72.31 percent inflation was registered last year. Despite the relative decrease in inflation, price optimization remains one of the main priorities.
20 years ago, Turkey was more specialized in agricultural and service sectors, now the country is becoming a modern industrial state. Turkey is currently considered one of the countries with a special advantage in the military and automobile industry. This means that the fraternal state can achieve further qualitative expansion of the economy in the coming years. The export of innovative industrial products against the background of tourism revenues will allow more foreign exchange to enter the country.
Turkey is one of the countries that always supports Azerbaijan. Turkey’s support has always been felt, both in the Patriotic War and in the construction process in Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur. The participation of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Turkey in the opening ceremony of both international airports in the liberated territories, the groundbreaking ceremony of the Azerbaijani part of the Zangezur Corridor, and the signing of the declaration of alliance in Shusha also confirm this. This means that after Erdogan’s re-election, joint strategic cooperation between the two countries will deepen.
As a whole, the results of the election in Turkey were important for the region. Erdogan’s re-election as president will create conditions for further strengthening of the existing regional order.
