NEWS

On November 22^nd Thursday at Potsdam University, Dr. Ali Rıza Güngen and Assoc. Prof. Ümit Akçay discussed “Turkey’s Financial Transformation: A Political Economic Analysis of Recent Developments” as part of  the “Democracy and Citizenship at Risk” - Off-University online lecture.

In their lecture, Dr. Ali Rıza Güngen, connected from Turkey, and Assoc. Prof. Ümit Akçay, presenting in class, divided the financial transformation in Turkey in four chapters:

1. Framing the crisis in Turkey — Crisis of “dependent financialization”

2. International Dynamics — Third wave of the global financial crisis

3. Post-2013 period—Three bottlenecks in five years

4. Current Developments—The worse has yet to come

Financial Crisis in Turkey

In the opening talk, Assoc. Prof. Akçay, illustrated three approaches in popular debates for explaining the financial crisis in Turkey: a) in general, it is argued that the change of the ruling system from parliamentary system to executive system cause the lack of trust for international capital flows; b) the economists affirms that the deviation of Turkey from the IMF Program in 2008 paved the way for the economical imbalance; c) finally, the Turkish government states that there is an economic war against Turkey due to geopolitical reasons. As Assoc. Prof. Akçay expressed in this talk, “Although these types of explanations may touch upon certain parts of the reality, we can create a more comprehensive framework. And the framework that we are using is ‘dependent financialization.’”

Dependent Financialization: Post-2001 Period

In the continuing part of the lecture Assoc. Prof. Akçay and Dr. Gürgen concentrated on the international dynamics of the financial crisis in Turkey in three steps: 1) the economic crisis in the US; 2) the European economic crisis; 3) Falling (failing olabilir mi?) of the emerging markets.

International Dynamics of the Financial Crisis in Turkey

The lecture continued by putting its focus on the post-2013 period of the Turkish economy. As Assoc. Prof. Akçay explained, “There is a policy recycle in Turkey during the AKP period,” and it starts with ‘the continuation of economic growth.’  

The Post-2013 Period of the Economics in Turkey

Before concluding the lecture, Dr. Gürgen elaborated the current economic developments by mentioning the new economic model launched by the Turkish government after the last general elections in Turkey.

Current Developments: The Worst Has Yet to Come

The lecture concluded with a vivid discussion regarding financial and political conditions in Turkey through the comments and the questions of the participants both online and at the Potsdam University.