Windsor Star (Ontario), Canada
April 12, 2013 Friday
Final Edition
Turkey emerging as a world power; Quietly slipping into prosperity
by: Matthew Fisher, The Windsor Star
ADANA, TURKEY
It is a great time to be in Turkey. Before the oppressive heat of
summer sets in, the countryside is a dazzling green and spring’s
promise is ubiquitous.
The explosive growth of China, India and, to a lesser extent Brazil,
have received far more global attention. But in its own way Turkey has
emerged as a powerhouse with tentacles reaching deep into Central
Asia, the Caucasus, the Balkans and the Middle East – re-establishing
traditional connections that ended with the collapse of the Ottoman
Empire during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
A brutal civil war rages interminably nearby in Syria. But here in
Adana the sense that the country’s agricultural heartland is on a roll
is almost as palpable as it is kilometres away in the thriving sprawls
of Istanbul and Ankara.
Turkey still counts on hordes of visitors who come for the sun and sea
and to marvel at the towering minarets and bazaars where Christendom
and Islam and Europe and Asia meet on the Bosphorus. But tourism and
farming are the old ways of surviving in Turkey. Its future can be
seen in the copies of the Financial Times that are being closely read
every morning by businessmen crowding the breakfast room at Adana’s
Hilton Hotel. An American engineer brought over to inspect boilers at
a group of factories to ensure they are world class told me this week
of his amazement at how Turkey had achieved so much with so little
buzz.
Only three years ago Turkey was experiencing an annual growth rate of
nine per cent. After more than a decade of phenomenal growth, that
figure dropped sharply to 2.2 per cent last year. Still, that
performance was considerably better than all the EU economies and
growth is touted to be a more robust four per cent this year.
Turkey has become Iraq’s largest trading partner since the wars there
have ebbed. Much of the money comes from oil and gas business
conducted with Iraq’s Kurds. This breakthrough may help to ease
tensions between Turks and the restive Kurdish minority.
Turkey has major energy plans of its own in the Black Sea and the
Mediterranean Sea and is aggressively seeking foreign help to build a
second nuclear power plant. Given the problems between Canada and the
U.S. over pipelines, Turkey has no qualms about building them to
enable its neighbours to export fuel and contribute to its prosperity.
Led by construction companies, which have become international
conglomerates, Turkey has huge and growing commercial interests in
energy-rich Central Asia. To promote its interests, the government has
celebrated the similarity between Turkish and the Turkic languages
spoken by tens of millions there. This long dormant historic
connection has permitted Turkish soap operas to develop a passionate
following in unexpected places such as Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and
Kazakhstan.
Nothing better illustrates Turkey’s boom than the exploding route map
of Turkish Airlines. Like the Persian Gulf carriers, Turkey’s national
air-line has been merrily connecting Asian, Middle Eastern and
European destinations. In so doing, they have all cut deeply into the
business of carriers from Australasia and Europe.
But unlike its Gulf rivals, Turkish Airlines has a second lane. It has
become the biggest international gateway to southern Russia, Central
Asia and other remnants of the Soviet empire such as Moldova, Georgia
and Armenia.
The reach of the Turkish flag carrier – which has quadrupled the
number of passengers it has flown since 2003 and intends to soon have
the world’s biggest route network – now extends far beyond Europe and
Asia. Although not generally known in Canada, it flies five non-stop
flights a week between Istanbul and Toronto, to four American
destinations as well as to Brazil and daunting locales such as Libya,
Rwanda and Somalia.
Only this week the airline announced the purchase of 95 Boeing jets,
to go with 117 jets it bought from Airbus last month. This is far more
new aircraft than Air Canada has bought during the past decade.
Turkey’s success is ironic because the EU, led by France and Germany,
has continued to spurn its attempts to join the confederation because,
although nobody will say so, it does not want an Islamic country in
its club.
Having put Turkey off for years, the EU has embraced such economic
minnows as Romania and Bulgaria.
With the southern half of the EU, led by the country’s long-time foes
Greece and the Greek part of Cyprus, now requiring huge bailouts from
their European partners, it looks as if Turkey is having the last
laugh. Who needs whom?