Commentary
Turkey has been preparing a major military gamble to restore the plummeting prestige of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who—unless he can produce a miracle—could be swept from office within a year.
Right now, there is little he seems willing to do about Turkey’s economic crisis. Inflation in Turkey reached a 24-year high of 78 percent in June 2022; the value of the lira continued to be weak (17.68 to the U.S. dollar in July 2022), and soaring energy imports and rising energy costs have brought a balance of payments crisis and pain at the consumer levels. Turkey’s economic miracle came and went, and the voters have become impoverished again….