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Turkey’s foreign policy blunders hit home

The Turkish ruling party’s economic and foreign policies have resulted in declining production and exports, with women emerging as the immediate victim of rising unemployment.
A street vendor waits for customers in Istanbul November 26, 2012. Through a decade of almost uninterrupted expansion, in which Turkey has established its economic and diplomatic clout as a Muslim democracy bridging Europe and the Middle East, the gap between the rich and poor has barely budged. Picture taken November 26, 2012. To match TURKEY-UNEMPLOYMENT/   REUTERS/Murad Sezer  (TURKEY - Tags: BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT POLITICS) - RTR3AYYA
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The Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) foreign policy, which started out as “zero problems with neighbors” before shifting to a neo-Ottoman ground in 2011, has come with economic repercussions. The Turkish economy today is in the grips of grave economic woes, with unemployment reaching its highest level in 57 months.

According to the figures released by the Turkish Statistics Agency (TUIK) last week, the official unemployment rate has climbed to 11.3%, with women taking the heaviest blow. The rate translates to 3,259,000 jobless people, including 2,117,000 men and 1,142,000 women.

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