Turkey’s opposition pledges return to economic orthodoxy, faces uphill task
An opposition victory in Turkey’s upcoming elections should put the country back on the path of economic orthodoxy, but the huge cost of the February quakes dictates tough revisions to any economic plans.
ISTANBUL — A return to orthodox economic policies is a key election pledge of Turkey’s opposition bloc. However, the colossal damage of the February earthquakes will make its task much harder should it win the May 14 presidential and parliamentary polls.
Turkey’s economic turmoil is a top issue on the election platform of the six-party Nation Alliance, which is mounting the strongest challenge yet to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP), in power for two decades. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, is the joint presidential candidate of the alliance, which includes disenchanted former associates of Erdogan, among them Ali Babacan, who presided over the economy in its heyday under the AKP and is well regarded by foreign investors.
