Why did Türkiye join the World Bank?

According to the international group Tasnim news agency, Ankara was once again forced To get banking facilities, press the bell of the World Bank building. Because the skimmer has reached the bottom of the pot and Erdogan’s government is unable to finance even medium-sized projects. The US dollar is still at the border of 33 lira, and the ever-increasing inflation is still strong. That is in a situation where Turkey’s foreign debt has broken records and the total foreign debt of the Turkish government and the private sector is 450 billion dollars, which has never been seen in the history of this country.

The World Bank (WB) announced in a statement that it has agreed to the financing program of 35 billion dollars for Turkey. But this news did not have a positive psychological effect on the Turkish market. Because this amount of credit is supposed to be granted to Turkey with strict terms and conditions and for 5 years.

That is, from now until 2029, the bank in question will receive 7 billion dollars every year. It allocates to Turkey’s economic program, which is not a significant amount due to the severe lack of foreign exchange resources. Of course, this bank has taken into account other terms and conditions which will be mentioned below. /Uploaded/Image/1403/02/22/1403022214493962330015964.jpg”/>

Until a few years ago, the Turkish economy was considered a developing economy and all its debts had straightened But now, the Turkish market is practically a bankrupt market, and many large western banks consider a high insurance risk to provide facilities, and currency swaps with China and South Korea have not had significant results, and Asian powers have shown that they are willing to invest. They don’t have it in Turkey.

Yesterday’s Erdogan: We can lend to the World Bank!

Rejab Tayyip Erdoğan is the only president of the region who has always claimed to have a high level of economic expertise! Even though he only studied at the bachelor’s or bachelor’s level, he has repeatedly said: “We have such insight and insight into the economy as if we ourselves wrote the book of economics!”.

But now, Turkey’s economy has been in crisis for several years and Erdogan does not dare to speak about these exaggerated boasts. Because the economic analysts of Turkey consider him to be the main cause of the crisis and inflation and they believe that these behaviors and actions of Erdogan brought the Turkish economy to the abyss:

1. Abandoning meritocracy and entrusting the steering of banks and treasury to your son-in-law and friends.

2. Continuous interference in financial-monetary decisions of the central bank and frequent change of several bank heads due to “not listening to the president”.

3. Taking refuge in huge construction projects but without economic justification in order to win votes for the ruling party.

4. Disregarding the legal formalities of bank tenders and paving the way for rent seeking and rent seeking.

5. Applying party policies to important decisions related to interest on bank deposits.

6. Adopting harsh positions towards private sector capitalists and driving away foreign investors due to adventure in foreign policy.

7. The deprivation of independence from the judiciary and the fear and terror of investors from operating in the Turkish market due to the loss of the possibility of healthy competition.

Yesterday’s Erdogan, intoxicated by his party’s victories, claimed with false confidence that His government does not need foreign financial aid and can even grant loans to the World Bank!

But today’s Erdogan silently looks at the round-the-clock efforts of his cabinet’s economic team, which is always on the go. are to bring some currency into the country through the Arab countries and the World Bank.

We say how to spend this money

One ​​of the controversial projects of Erdogan for the economic development of Turkey in the last few years is the “Istanbul Canal”. A few years ago, Erdogan announced that he plans to connect the Black Sea with the construction of a new sea crossing, not from the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, but with a new crossing called the Istanbul Canal to Marmara, the Aegean and the Mediterranean.

But this multi-ten billion dollar project was left off the table due to the widespread opposition of environmentalists and the strong opposition of Istanbul Mayor Akram Imamoglu.

Erdogan hoped that the helm The Municipality of Istanbul falls into the hands of Housing Minister Murad Kurum and with Imamoglu’s departure, he can implement his project with peace of mind. However, contrary to expectations, Imamoglu was re-elected mayor with high votes and one day after his victory, he openly announced that this victory means that the case of building the Istanbul Canal has been sent to the trash can.

However, Erdogan’s advisors announced that the World Bank has provided the funds and there are no restrictions or problems. It was here that the representative of the World Bank entered the campaign and explained about this sensitive issue.

Humberto Lopez, Turkey case manager at the World Bank, explained how the credits of this bank were used by the Erdogan government. will be used. He announced that there are three important cases in this case:

1. Supporting the economic improvement and the prosperity of the Turkish market.

2. Supporting projects related to climate change.

3. Granting special facilities to the provinces that were damaged by the earthquake on February 6, 2023.

Lopez also clearly stated that the Istanbul Canal will not be part of the agreed projects and the World Bank has not appeared in this regard. take the lead.

He also praised the realistic policies of Turkish Treasury Minister Mehmet Şimşek and expressed hope that Turkey’s economic situation will improve slightly in the second half of this year.

Lopez also said that there is a positive trend in foreign investment towards Turkey and that 12 billion dollars of the World Bank’s allocated credits to Turkey will not go to Erdogan’s government, but to the private sector.

The director of the World Bank says that the budget allocated to the public sector will be focused on several key areas. The first occurred after the 2023 earthquakes. Efforts focused on public infrastructure, social services and economic revitalization.

Also increasing energy security by supporting the government’s 12-year initiative to deploy 60 gigawatts of renewable energy as well as addressing related issues has been agreed to climate change.

Erdogan’s government plans to increase the installed capacity in solar and wind energy every year until 2035 with a 12-year renewable energy project of 60 GW. 5 GW. />

The World Bank has set a task even for Turkish banks. For example, Exim Bank, a Turkish state-owned bank that supports exporters, will receive a $660 million guarantee to finance companies to comply with the EU’s carbon-intensive industries reduction directive. A $400 million operation to support investments by companies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and a $600 million operation to support the expansion of rooftop solar panels in Turkey have been approved by the World Bank.

In the end, it should be said, in the current situation, the government created by the Justice and Development Party does not have much hope for improving the economic situation, and Judet Yilmaz, the vice president, has officially announced that the government hopes that in the second half of 2025, inflation come down

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