Find your own solution

Another eye opener is President Obama giving priority to the solution of economic problems and have the $800 billion stabilization pact pass from Congress. In Britain the presidents of the banks, which were saved by state intervention, apologized from their shareholders and the people in their testimony at the House of Commons.

Here in Turkey everybody is giving alarm signals to the government. Recently the TİSK (Employers Union) Advisory Council, addressing the government stated that the economic crisis was mismanaged and an atmosphere of security could not be created. "Priority should be given to measures to save the economy," they said. "The real economy had problems even before the global economic crisis hit us. But as local and foreign markets shrank with the impact of the crisis we were dragged in a very bad situation from which we don’t know how to get out. Today the economy is in recession. The government’s priorities have always been the upcoming municipal elections and the developments abroad. Their approach to us was like, find your own solutions, you are at your own peril, " the statement continued.

For the year 2008 the current accounts gap has been announced as $41.416 billion. This shows a 8.4 per cent increase than 2007.

Prime Minister Tayip Erdoğan in his speech at Justice and Development Party, or AKP’s parliamentary group meeting reacted to those who are pessimistic about the near future. "Regardless of what they say Turkey is moving forward. You always weep and weep. Hey, why can’t you just say, ’Even during this crisis we have reached these numbers.’ Because you are not willing to see the reality. We brought down the amount of the debt to the IMF from $23.5 billion to only $8 billion. Why don’t we speak about these issues? Before us 21 banks declared bankruptcy. After we became government we were careful enough to tie our donkey to a very sturdy cane and no banks went down.

"This era is not an era when the person in Çankaya was sitting comfortably and only the government was working. Now both of us are working full speed. There is no lack of measures. Turkey will easily overcome these difficult situations. During this process we have delivered a very successful performance. With the reforms we put underway we managed to minimize the impact of the economic crisis over Turkey. We are passing through a crisis, which can be seen once in a century. Of course a certain percentage drop will occur in our exports. I had said we will overcome this situation with the least loss and everybody made fun of me. And don’t worry. About the point we reached in the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, we will decide on what is the most ideal one," were his words at the group meeting. Just as I gave you an example from the United States I want to further my observations on what is happening in that country. The Americans at least admit that there is a serious economic crisis in the country and they have to take dire global measures to overcome it. In Britain bank presidents accept that they have mismanaged the situation and apologize from the people.

Before the economic crisis started here in Turkey the markets were in a very bad situation. Led by the automotive, construction and textile industries several companies were declaring bankruptcy and laying off their workers. Even in those days we were warning the government saying that solutions should be found to the economical infrastructure problem and without taking these measures the Turkish economy would not be able to survive. To top it now we are hit by this global crisis. As usual today we don’t take any concrete measures but feign to do so and try to find a way to pass through this difficult situation until the local elections. Adding to it we believe in speaking the language of the streets so that the ordinary man would understand it. But nobody is giving credit to this policy any more. The brand of unreliability has been put on.

More than the IMF and the European Union Turkey actually needs a government that will give a sense of security to the markets. If you tell the truth and admit your mistakes people will be willing to help you. But if you lose your credibility nobody will try and help you any more. "Let’s solve this problem all together under the roof of the Grand National Assembly. None of us should use these problems for local political consumption," we asked during these recent six months. But you preferred to choose a language of the streets, which nobody understands in the international arena, and even to yourself doesn’t sound sincere. Most probably the prime minister and government members are aware that almost all governments in Turkey lost their seats during economic crises. You may win again in the upcoming elections and you even may seem very successful to yourselves. But what will happen after the elections? The economies of the United States and EU countries will enter into recovery periods after 2010 and 2011. We, on the other hand have to adopt the necessary reforms in this crucial year we have entered and be able to catch the positive international developments lying ahead.