İYİ Party blames presidential system for economic woes

ANKARA

Turkey’s opposition İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener on Dec. 3 blamed the executive presidential system for the country’s financial problems, saying the economy has “collapsed.”

“Let’s take a look at the 500-day report of the presidential system. [The economy] contracted over 4 percent. Our national income dropped to $8,811. We became 10 percent poorer compared to last year. The unemployment rate increased to 14 percent from 10 percent,” Akşener said.

The İYİ Party leader’s remarks came during the parliamentary group meeting of her party.

“Of course, there are official figures. The realities of life are way more dire,” she said.

Akşener also conveyed that the number of unemployed persons in Turkey reached over 4.6 million, while 369,000 more college graduates became unemployed, reaching over 1.2 million.

“The number of unemployed youth increased by 470,000. Now, we have 1,518,000 unemployed young people,” she said.

Akşener also stressed on inflation rates, saying the state of the economy has left Turkey behind underdeveloped nations.

“When I voice these realities, Mr. [President Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan gets very angry. He says, ‘She is playing with the figures.’ But all of the figures I give is the state’s official data,” she said.

The opposition leader said the presidential system damaged not only the economy but also democracy and the judiciary in Turkey.

“Aside from the mistrust within the country, this means a huge trust issue for investments,” she said.

“No one would invest in a country where democracy is not functioning and the judiciary has become the servant of the ruling party,” she added.