TR Economy & Updates

[B_A]

That is a large improvement for Turkey, which was ranked 59 in 2018. Now, Turkey needs to keep improving so that it can at least pass Saudi Arabia.

We can only　achieve that since we stop the drop of Lira

 

[TheInsider]

The problem is not Şimşek but Erdogan. Erdogan can sack Şimşek tomorrow and no one can say anything about it.

 

[Scott Summers]

It would be the most stupid move of Erdogan if he fires Şimşek.

Most stupid moves from Erdogan:

1. Releasing Pastor Brunson
2. Buying S400
3. And after that not using S400
4. Not invading Manbij
5. Not building Canal Istanbul
6. Supporting Zelensky
7. Not making EEZ-demarcation agreements with Syria.

 

[Rooxbar]

It would be the most stupid move of Erdogan if he fires Şimşek.

Most stupid moves from Erdogan:

1. Releasing Pastor Brunson
2. Buying S400
3. And after that not using S400
4. Not invading Manbij
5. Not building Canal Istanbul
6. Supporting Zelensky
7. Not making EEZ-demarcation agreements with Syria.

We have much deeper geopolitical reasons for not wanting to share the Black Sea with Russia more than we already do; that's why we support Ukraine to a certain extent rather than listening to American alt-right twitter accounts in supporting their white Christian savior Putin.

 

[Lool]

Istanbul airport is named as airport of the year for the 4th consecutive time
Amazing achievement

Istanbul Airport named 'Airport of the Year' for 4th time in row

Türkiye's vast Istanbul Airport was named 'Airport of the Year' and received Air Transport Awards for 2024, clinching the title for the fourth...

www.dailysabah.com

 

[Saithan]

VP Yılmaz: Inflation will decrease after June - Latest News

Inflation in Türkiye was higher than expected in January and February due to various reasons, but will gradually lose momentum in March, according to Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz.

www.hurriyetdailynews.com

WTF does VP talk about inflation. Doesn't bode well at all. I think the small gains we've had with Simsek is about to be flushed out in the toilet.

 

[Scott Summers]

We have much deeper geopolitical reasons for not wanting to share the Black Sea with Russia more than we already do; that's why we support Ukraine to a certain extent rather than listening to American alt-right twitter accounts in supporting their white Christian savior Putin.

Supporting Ukraine is a stupid move. Zelensky was mocking and bashing Erdogan and our culture in his earlier carreer as comedian.

The Ukrainian part of the Black Sea will stay Ukrainian or turn Russian. No matter which side wins, it wont be Turkish.

We should have stayed neutral.

 

[Lool]

Supporting Ukraine is a stupid move. Zelensky was mocking and bashing Erdogan and our culture in his earlier carreer as comedian.

The Ukrainian part of the Black Sea will stay Ukrainian or turn Russian. No matter which side wins, it wont be Turkish.

We should have stayed neutral.

What drugs are you on mate?
None is denying that Russia will win but weakening Russia even by a soldier with nothing but a monetary price is a one in a lifetime deal/sale that Turkey used well

 

[Scott Summers]

What drugs are you on mate?
None is denying that Russia will win but weakening Russia even by a soldier with nothing but a monetary price is a one in a lifetime deal/sale that Turkey used well

How are they weakened?

The war is now lasting for 2 years. How does Russia weakened from this exactly?

Dit they lost ground in Syria or in Eastern Europe or in the Black Sea, or in the Caucasus or in Libya?

Where did they weakened? In which theatre? How did we benefit from this?

Russia sold more oil and gas than before, they produced more weaponry than before, they made more money than before. And they not only holded ground, they expanded into Ukraine and the Black Sea.

Only Western Atlanticists think that Russia would be 'weakened' by this war.

 

[Heartbang]

How are they weakened?

The war is now lasting for 2 years. How does Russia weakened from this exactly?

Dit they lost ground in Syria or in Eastern Europe or in the Black Sea, or in the Caucasus or in Libya?

Where did they weakened? In which theatre? How did we benefit from this?

Russia sold more oil and gas than before, they produced more weaponry than before, they made more money than before. And they not only holded ground, they expanded into Ukraine and the Black Sea.

Only Western Atlanticists think that Russia would be 'weakened' by this war.

The Nordstreams are gone. If they ever get to sell gas to Europe, they have to do it through us.

Which gives us leverage.

The Central Asian states are trying to carve out new routes to ship their oil and gas to Europe. Because the Nordstreams are gone.

Which gives us the chance to cooperate on that field and lay the path to establish T U R A N

Their military exports are down a lot. Their entire market share is up for grabs.

Which provides us with new trade opportunities.

Their best and the brightest are scattered to the wind. A significant chunk of them is in Turkiye as we speak.

Their treatment of their ethnic minorities like cannon fodder is stoking the nationalist movements inside the federation. There were riots in Bashkortostan a while back. Yakuts are developing a national consciousness.

These are all good news for the glorious T U R A N

Their army turned out to be a corrupted mess who fail to utilize and modernize their equipment, full of conscriptovitches who sell their kit for vodka, and go for lead-flavored ice cream from the source at the slightest inconvenience.

Their blood is in the water now, and the sharks are a-yearning.

 

[Bozan]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1763189713848987787

Worst case scenario ?

 

[Scott Summers]

GCC, Türkiye to Start Free Trade Negotiations

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi and Turkish Minister of Trade Dr. Omer Bolat signed on Thursday an agreement to start negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

GCC, Türkiye to Start Free Trade Negotiations

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi and Turkish Minister of Trade Dr. Omer Bolat signed on Thursday an agreement to start negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The agreement, according to Albudaiwi, proves the robust and strategic partnership the two...

english.aawsat.com

 

[Scott Summers]

Baku-Tbilisi rail route gets a facelift

Moderization enabling five-fold increase in EU-bound freight.

Azerbaijan’s efforts to open a freight rail connection to Europe via Turkey have focused on two proposed routes transiting the Nakhchivan exclave. But there is a third alternative via Georgia that is getting an upgrade.

https://eurasianet.org/baku-tbilisi-rail-route-gets-a-facelift

 

[Quasar]

The increasing momentum in bilateral relations between two neighboring countries, Turkey and Egypt, continues with new agreements. Doğuş Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Egyptian Government to establish a Turkish Logistics and Industrial Zone in the Gargoub Port on the northwestern coast of Egypt with an investment of 7 billion dollars.

what an interesting location to pick

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1771216093228507581

 

[_Mu_]

Not sure where this fits better but I think it's relevant here

---

Turkey's military scorecard: Naval and aerial advances but lacks money, speed

If Turkey wants to play in the "big leagues" with the United States, Russia and China, it has to provide its military-industrial complex with greater pace and resources.

www.al-monitor.com

Spoiler: Read

A new official report showcases how far Turkey has advanced its defense industry, but it also points to the lack of resources for the country’s ambitious geopolitical outlook and indigenous military projects.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry earlier this month released its 2023 activities report. The breakdown of planned purchases for the military’s three main services — army, navy and air force — looks groundbreaking, because it promises to modernize almost all major combat and support elements or provide them with brand-new platforms.

On land, the Turkish military will continue acquiring dozens of new T-155 Firtina self-propelled howitzers and install hybrid engines and new turrets to its US-made M113 armored personnel carriers, to turn them into infantry fighting vehicles of which Turkey owns more than 2,000. Meanwhile, US-made M60 and German-made Leopard 2 tanks will be furnished with new fire control and armor plating to make them more compatible with Turkish-made Altay main battle tanks.
In the air, beside upgrading the fleet of F-16s and acquiring dozens of unmanned drones with increased capabilities, the Turkish air force is retrofitting its cargo planes with domestic avionics. The report also had a section on the country’s first domestically manufactured orbital ground surveillance satellite, IMECE, which came into operation after being launched from California last year. This section also mentioned Ankara’s intention to acquire new generation F-16s from the United States, which was made possible once Turkey ratified Sweden’s NATO membership earlier this year.

Noteworthy leap in navy
Perhaps it is on the sea that the Turkish military’s biggest accomplishments were scored last year, the Defense Ministry report showed. Turkey launched its new amphibious assault ship and the flagship of the Turkish navy, TCG Anadolu. Sometimes billed as an "aircraft carrier" on Turkish media, Anadolu will be joined by I-class frigates that will also provide air defense and Hisar-class offshore patrol vessels that will focus on intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, coastal security and anti-piracy operations.
Under water, Reis-class submarines — under construction through a German license — and the nationally designed and produced submarines, known as MILDEN, which will join the Turkish navy in the 2030s, will ensure the safety of the fleet. Interestingly, the report did not mention that Turkey is soon to become less reliant on foreign suppliers, because it has completed testing the advanced munitions for its warships, such as the Atmaca anti-ship missile, the Akya heavyweight torpedo and the Hisar and Siper air defense batteries that will also be adopted for naval use.

The report provides a broad analysis on the acquisition of tanks, artillery pieces, land-based air defense systems and domestically built submarines and air defense frigates. Especially critical are new airplanes, including the indigenous fifth-generation national jet fighter project (MMU), nicknamed Kaan, which successfully completed its maiden flight Feb. 21.

All told, these modernization and acquisition programs came to 102.4 billion liras ($3.2 billion).
According to the report, Turkey spent another 6.5 billion liras ($273 million per the exchange rate at the time) for the international peacekeeping operations in which it partakes and another 635 million liras ($26.6 million) to increase the defense capabilities of “friendly and allied countries” in 2023. Although the report did not state the revenues from arms exports, the ministry authorized 2,291 export licenses and 1,126 import licenses. According to the Sweden-based arms watchdog Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Turkish defense firms exported some $5.5 billion in goods and services in 2022.
But the report’s section on the defense budget risks dampening Ankara’s ambitions to become a self-reliant country with one of the most powerful militaries in the world — especially with respect to allocating a much smaller budget than its fellow middle powers and “big league” players — namely, the United States, Russia and China, the only three world powers that have produced fifth-generation fighter jets.


'Not adequate at all'

Per the Defense Ministry report, the Turkish military was allocated approximately 270 billion liras ($11.3 billion) in 2023, of which it spent 240 billion liras ($10.1 billion). Despite an improved economic outlook since the elections, high inflation that annually hit 70% according to official data and the continued weakening of the lira in 2023 — when $1 went from 19 liras in May to 30 liras by the end of the year — have made it hard to calculate Turkey’s defense budget in foreign currency. If the annual average of the exchange rate is taken at 23.8 liras to the US dollar, then the Turkish defense budget for 2023 comes to just over $10 billion — though the Turkish government used $16 billion as its baseline.

In comparison, the United States spent some $900 billion on defense last year. According to SIPRI, China spent $292 billion on its military in 2022. The watchdog has pointed out Turkey’s fellow middle powers India, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom spent $81.4 billion, $75 billion and $68.5 billion, respectively, in 2022. Russia will likely spend about $140 billion in 2024 due to the war in Ukraine.

According to Kubilay Yildirim, a leading defense analyst and co-host of the Turkish-language podcast "Guns and Butter," Turkey’s defense budget is hardly enough. “It is clear this budget will not be adequate at all. We need to be realistic,” he told Al-Monitor. “For a country like Turkey and its national security apparatus, that budget is too modest; $10 billion is supposed to pay personnel salaries and benefits and other expenses while the Turkish Armed Forces [TSK] is expected to modernize its fleet, air force and ground forces and carry out operations in trouble spots such as Syria and Iraq.”
Yildirim noted that Turkey’s indigenous projects — including the modernization program for existing F-16s in the air force, new combat ships, the Altay tank and the long-awaited rollout of 6x6 and 8x8 armored vehicles for the Turkish army — require more budget.

Kozan Erkan, another leading defense analyst and writer for the website Defence Turk, thinks the Turkish defense industry is something of a “prototype heaven.”
“We are too slow to produce successful prototype products and put them into mass production,” he told Al-Monitor. “Unfortunately, it is impossible to carry out rapid mass production without fully establishing the production infrastructure, also known as the ecosystem. We are developing this ecosystem very slowly.”
The Defense Ministry’s support for domestic companies in the production of subsystems is inadequate, and these companies are trying to grow with the small support of the main contractor companies.
Kozan suggests that the development, mass production and sales processes can be expedited through exports.
“If we grow with exports, our companies and our national defense will be sustainable,” he added. “Our companies and the cost and volume of their work are growing; their ability to cover their research and development and operating costs only through [selling to the Turkish military] is decreasing day by day."
Still, Yildirim struck an optimistic tone. “Projects under development are finally bearing fruit and entering production. Once these projects are implemented, the TSK inventory … will once again be transformed into one of the world’s top forces,” he noted.
He pointed out that mass production of the systems mentioned above would alleviate shortcomings, but programs that increase Turkish military units’ battlefield situational awareness, sensors and communication systems, long-range radars, network-centric and data-link solutions are still under development.


There is cause for optimism. Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz announced in October that Turkey’s defense and security sector will be allocated 1.13 trillion liras for 2024, which stood at approximately $40.5 billion per that month’s exchange rate. Bringing down inflation and stabilizing Turkey’s foreign currency headaches will be a great contribution to the country’s domestic and international security outlook.

Other impediments
Accusations of nepotism and cronyism in Turkey’s state bureaucracy and private sector are additional concerns that might also affect the country’s military strength.
In a recent article on the defense- and politics-focused Strasam website, retired Turkish air force combat pilot and academic Huseyin Fazla argued that BMC, the Qatari-Turkish venture, delayed the rollout of MMU Kaan as it failed to produce its engine on time. BMC is also under fire for not being able to complete the engine for Turkey’s Altay tank, which was commissioned to his vehicle manufacturing company, whose Turkish partner is Ethem Sancak, known to have close ties with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a former member of his ruling Justice and Development Party.

All told, if Turkey wants to play in the “big leagues” with the United States, Russia and China, it has to provide its military-industrial complex with greater resources, foster reliable export markets and insulate its civilian and military bureaucracy from tiresome squabbling.

​

 

[Zafer]

Not sure where this fits better but I think it's relevant here

---

Turkey's military scorecard: Naval and aerial advances but lacks money, speed

If Turkey wants to play in the "big leagues" with the United States, Russia and China, it has to provide its military-industrial complex with greater pace and resources.

www.al-monitor.com

Spoiler: Read

A new official report showcases how far Turkey has advanced its defense industry, but it also points to the lack of resources for the country’s ambitious geopolitical outlook and indigenous military projects.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry earlier this month released its 2023 activities report. The breakdown of planned purchases for the military’s three main services — army, navy and air force — looks groundbreaking, because it promises to modernize almost all major combat and support elements or provide them with brand-new platforms.

On land, the Turkish military will continue acquiring dozens of new T-155 Firtina self-propelled howitzers and install hybrid engines and new turrets to its US-made M113 armored personnel carriers, to turn them into infantry fighting vehicles of which Turkey owns more than 2,000. Meanwhile, US-made M60 and German-made Leopard 2 tanks will be furnished with new fire control and armor plating to make them more compatible with Turkish-made Altay main battle tanks.
In the air, beside upgrading the fleet of F-16s and acquiring dozens of unmanned drones with increased capabilities, the Turkish air force is retrofitting its cargo planes with domestic avionics. The report also had a section on the country’s first domestically manufactured orbital ground surveillance satellite, IMECE, which came into operation after being launched from California last year. This section also mentioned Ankara’s intention to acquire new generation F-16s from the United States, which was made possible once Turkey ratified Sweden’s NATO membership earlier this year.

Noteworthy leap in navy
Perhaps it is on the sea that the Turkish military’s biggest accomplishments were scored last year, the Defense Ministry report showed. Turkey launched its new amphibious assault ship and the flagship of the Turkish navy, TCG Anadolu. Sometimes billed as an "aircraft carrier" on Turkish media, Anadolu will be joined by I-class frigates that will also provide air defense and Hisar-class offshore patrol vessels that will focus on intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, coastal security and anti-piracy operations.
Under water, Reis-class submarines — under construction through a German license — and the nationally designed and produced submarines, known as MILDEN, which will join the Turkish navy in the 2030s, will ensure the safety of the fleet. Interestingly, the report did not mention that Turkey is soon to become less reliant on foreign suppliers, because it has completed testing the advanced munitions for its warships, such as the Atmaca anti-ship missile, the Akya heavyweight torpedo and the Hisar and Siper air defense batteries that will also be adopted for naval use.

The report provides a broad analysis on the acquisition of tanks, artillery pieces, land-based air defense systems and domestically built submarines and air defense frigates. Especially critical are new airplanes, including the indigenous fifth-generation national jet fighter project (MMU), nicknamed Kaan, which successfully completed its maiden flight Feb. 21.

All told, these modernization and acquisition programs came to 102.4 billion liras ($3.2 billion).
According to the report, Turkey spent another 6.5 billion liras ($273 million per the exchange rate at the time) for the international peacekeeping operations in which it partakes and another 635 million liras ($26.6 million) to increase the defense capabilities of “friendly and allied countries” in 2023. Although the report did not state the revenues from arms exports, the ministry authorized 2,291 export licenses and 1,126 import licenses. According to the Sweden-based arms watchdog Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Turkish defense firms exported some $5.5 billion in goods and services in 2022.
But the report’s section on the defense budget risks dampening Ankara’s ambitions to become a self-reliant country with one of the most powerful militaries in the world — especially with respect to allocating a much smaller budget than its fellow middle powers and “big league” players — namely, the United States, Russia and China, the only three world powers that have produced fifth-generation fighter jets.


'Not adequate at all'

Per the Defense Ministry report, the Turkish military was allocated approximately 270 billion liras ($11.3 billion) in 2023, of which it spent 240 billion liras ($10.1 billion). Despite an improved economic outlook since the elections, high inflation that annually hit 70% according to official data and the continued weakening of the lira in 2023 — when $1 went from 19 liras in May to 30 liras by the end of the year — have made it hard to calculate Turkey’s defense budget in foreign currency. If the annual average of the exchange rate is taken at 23.8 liras to the US dollar, then the Turkish defense budget for 2023 comes to just over $10 billion — though the Turkish government used $16 billion as its baseline.

In comparison, the United States spent some $900 billion on defense last year. According to SIPRI, China spent $292 billion on its military in 2022. The watchdog has pointed out Turkey’s fellow middle powers India, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom spent $81.4 billion, $75 billion and $68.5 billion, respectively, in 2022. Russia will likely spend about $140 billion in 2024 due to the war in Ukraine.

According to Kubilay Yildirim, a leading defense analyst and co-host of the Turkish-language podcast "Guns and Butter," Turkey’s defense budget is hardly enough. “It is clear this budget will not be adequate at all. We need to be realistic,” he told Al-Monitor. “For a country like Turkey and its national security apparatus, that budget is too modest; $10 billion is supposed to pay personnel salaries and benefits and other expenses while the Turkish Armed Forces [TSK] is expected to modernize its fleet, air force and ground forces and carry out operations in trouble spots such as Syria and Iraq.”
Yildirim noted that Turkey’s indigenous projects — including the modernization program for existing F-16s in the air force, new combat ships, the Altay tank and the long-awaited rollout of 6x6 and 8x8 armored vehicles for the Turkish army — require more budget.

Kozan Erkan, another leading defense analyst and writer for the website Defence Turk, thinks the Turkish defense industry is something of a “prototype heaven.”
“We are too slow to produce successful prototype products and put them into mass production,” he told Al-Monitor. “Unfortunately, it is impossible to carry out rapid mass production without fully establishing the production infrastructure, also known as the ecosystem. We are developing this ecosystem very slowly.”
The Defense Ministry’s support for domestic companies in the production of subsystems is inadequate, and these companies are trying to grow with the small support of the main contractor companies.
Kozan suggests that the development, mass production and sales processes can be expedited through exports.
“If we grow with exports, our companies and our national defense will be sustainable,” he added. “Our companies and the cost and volume of their work are growing; their ability to cover their research and development and operating costs only through [selling to the Turkish military] is decreasing day by day."
Still, Yildirim struck an optimistic tone. “Projects under development are finally bearing fruit and entering production. Once these projects are implemented, the TSK inventory … will once again be transformed into one of the world’s top forces,” he noted.
He pointed out that mass production of the systems mentioned above would alleviate shortcomings, but programs that increase Turkish military units’ battlefield situational awareness, sensors and communication systems, long-range radars, network-centric and data-link solutions are still under development.


There is cause for optimism. Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz announced in October that Turkey’s defense and security sector will be allocated 1.13 trillion liras for 2024, which stood at approximately $40.5 billion per that month’s exchange rate. Bringing down inflation and stabilizing Turkey’s foreign currency headaches will be a great contribution to the country’s domestic and international security outlook.

Other impediments
Accusations of nepotism and cronyism in Turkey’s state bureaucracy and private sector are additional concerns that might also affect the country’s military strength.
In a recent article on the defense- and politics-focused Strasam website, retired Turkish air force combat pilot and academic Huseyin Fazla argued that BMC, the Qatari-Turkish venture, delayed the rollout of MMU Kaan as it failed to produce its engine on time. BMC is also under fire for not being able to complete the engine for Turkey’s Altay tank, which was commissioned to his vehicle manufacturing company, whose Turkish partner is Ethem Sancak, known to have close ties with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a former member of his ruling Justice and Development Party.

All told, if Turkey wants to play in the “big leagues” with the United States, Russia and China, it has to provide its military-industrial complex with greater resources, foster reliable export markets and insulate its civilian and military bureaucracy from tiresome squabbling.

​

Speed issue is tied to lack of engines and money issue is tied to lack of speed. We need 5 years to remedy these issues. Until that time sales will keep being slow while improving gradually.

 

[Saithan]

Yacht building becomes lucrative business in Antalya - Latest News

The free zone in the southern province of Antalya is one of the global centers of yachts, especially for luxury yacht building, with revenues from such operations amounting to nearly $2 billion in more than two decades.

www.hurriyetdailynews.com

Well, it's good to see that some initiatives are paying off like this.

 

[UkroTurk]

Here are my complo theories.

Things are not good as FED wants cut the rates.
İndeed USA wants inflation in order to pay cheaper 34 trillion USD dept to the Chinese.

On the other hand USA also wants oil to be expensive since their sources hard to refine. That's why war occured in the middle east and in Ukraine.

US will make consumption of nuclear energy wide in the world as they could sell this technology among the high oil prices.

İn two years Gold will be 3000usd /o. Oil 150usd/b.

So our economy will be f...d. EU will bring wealth tax, so we may need also wealth tax.

 

[Bozan]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1772538604176261153

 

[Lool]

Here are my complo theories.

Things are not good as FED wants cut the rates.
İndeed USA wants inflation in order to pay cheaper 34 trillion USD dept to the Chinese.

On the other hand USA also wants oil to be expensive since their sources hard to refine. That's why war occured in the middle east and in Ukraine.

US will make consumption of nuclear energy wide in the world as they could sell this technology among the high oil prices.

İn two years Gold will be 3000usd /o. Oil 150usd/b.

So our economy will be f...d. EU will bring wealth tax, so we may need also wealth tax.

But wouldnt inflation decrease the value of the dollar, which will make a cost of living crisis and a massive wave of unemployment that any administration that rules during such laws being implemented will be fired during the next elections

Can the democrats or the republicans or even the jewish lobby in the US take such a risk? Nearly impossible as far as I know. For the US to continue surviving, the dollar must be strong, and there must be a strong international demand for it