Turkey and her people have struggled to find a balance between Eastern Conservatism and Western Capitalism in modern life. The identity of the nation will determine how influential the country can become among competing world economies. Turkey’s economy has as much variety as the land and the people. Since the decline of the Ottoman Empire the country its people and its economy have struggled for world identity and survival. The economy of Turkey today is booming, and contributing factors include average age of the workforce, agriculture, and tourism. Turkey uses the strength of its economy as one of its primary marketing tools in becoming respected on the world stage. The economy in Turkey has had a turbulent past. Following WWI it was severely underdeveloped and suffered from poor-quality livestock and the factories that produced products such as sugar and flour were under foreign control. Wheat, Turkey’s primary crop was not enough to sustain the country’s demand. Further, the war had claimed the lives of many of the nation’s peasants causing a drastic drop in population. Once stabilized, the economy averaged about six percent growth per year, and following 1950 only experienced economic problems about once a decade. The worst fall came in the 1970’s when Turkey was made to follow the conditions set by the International Monetary Fund. These reforms devalued the Turkish lira and lessened the demand for Turkish exports. The guidelines of the IMF enabled Turkey to again become a credible borrower and returned its external debt accounts to good standing, but took a toll the Turkish population by drastically slowing the economic growth. Even within the last ten years the economy of Turkey has had drastic rise and fall. In 1993 the Lira suffered a 76 percent fall leaving it 41,000 TL to 1 USD. As recently as 2001, Turkey enacted laws to strengthen the private sector and increase the economic stability and weaken state run monopolies on industries such as telecommunications and banking.
These reforms have led Turkey to the strong economy it has today. It is one of the world’s few countries that is self-sufficient in food and is a major exporter of agricultural goods to the world. The Turkish government markets this strength to the world and attempts to attract international investors to Turkey by highlighting its young workforce, geographical location, and cumulative GDP increase of 122 percent in the last four years. As a candidate for membership to the EU, Turkey is proud to boast that she surpasses most European economies, as 17th in the world, and has the 4th largest workforce in comparison to 27 European countries with almost 25 million people in 2006.
The reputation of Turkey on the international stage is a huge contributor of its economic success. If Turkey is viewed as a country with western values among western states, she will attract more investors and tourists. Turkey must also maintain the reputation of a protector of eastern culture and values among eastern states in order to maintain positive relationships within the region. Tourism, another of Turkey’s primary industries, is a good example of how reputation affects economy. The cultural Attaché for Turkey in the US reported in 2005 that the city of Istanbul has hosted more than 60,000 conference delegates and millions of leisure travelers. The Turkish government released statistics the same year stating that Turkey has seen a rise in American tourism because of the familiarity of Europe and the intrigue of Asia. They report that the rise is nearly 48 percent, or 400,000 Americans. This figure is nearly the pre-September 11th figures. Istanbul has been named the European Capital of Culture and will celebrate this title in 2010, furthering the reputation of a land that represents all.
Considering the economic past and the country’s struggle for stability, it is no wonder that Turkish people desire to remain secular and western in the way that they conduct their political and commercial way of life. The country is truly unique in its ability to juggle the history, traditionalism, and conservatism with modern capitalism, secular governing, and liberalism.