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From the earthquake to the presidential elections / Bushati "scans" the situation in Turkey, podcast with the well-known intellectual

2023-04-28 18:01:00, Politikë CNA

From the earthquake to the presidential elections / Bushati "scans"

Ditmir Bushati

The next podcast "Public Square" by Ditmir Bushati, deals with the situation in Turkey after the devastating earthquake of February and its impact on the parliamentary and presidential elections of May 14, in a conversation with one of Turkey's most prominent thinkers, with an international reputation, Sinan Ulgen, Chairman of the Board of the Center for Economic Studies and Foreign Policy.

The February earthquake, the largest ever recorded in the country, has opened many debates about Turkey. Polls show that the earthquake, coupled with the difficult economic situation, could affect the end of the 20-year rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

What happened to building permit policies in Turkey? For Ulgen, unfortunately the lessons learned from the 1999 earthquake, which later brought Erdogan to power, have been forgotten, both by the political leadership and more broadly by Turkish society.

"What should have been done, based on the experience of the 1999 earthquake, was to improve the sustainability of Turkish cities, to create financing mechanisms that would facilitate housing, to draft legislation in the field of urban planning for this purpose. All these were abandoned. They left in the middle of the road. And over time populist tendencies prevailed".

Which were the countries that helped and stood in solidarity with Turkey the most? The West and the EU. But also countries like Israel and Greece, with which Turkey does not have very good relations. Less China and Russia.

Bushati and Ulgen discussed the political implications of the earthquake in the May 14 parliamentary and presidential elections, the new political reality with a united opposition, which has produced two competing visions: continuity, on the one hand, and change, on the other. At this point Ulgen thinks there will be a race between the government and the opposition to convince the electorate which is the best choice to prepare Turkey to face the next earthquake.

"The opposition has an advantage because the government has been in power for 20 years, and it was its duty to prepare Turkey for the earthquake. Her performance, as we have seen in this tragedy, leaves much to be desired. So, they (the government) will have difficulty in arguing that they are the right choice, because they have not done this properly in the last 20 years", he concludes.

The two interlocutors also dwelled on the parties' differences in foreign policy, and more specifically on Turkey's relations with the United States and whether Turkey can be re-entered on the road to the EU.

"This perspective exists because it is in the opposition's program, in their political platform, where they clearly emphasize that they are ready to reaffirm Turkey's western affiliation", asserts Ülgen, while adding that if Erdo?an's ruling party wins, he expects I expected the same situation, "a more balanced approach between the West and other countries in the East of Turkey, where Turkey has tried to create almost a space of strategic autonomy".

In case of political change, what will be Turkey's relationship with Russia? It seems that at this point any government will find it impossible to join the sanctions imposed by the West. And the rabbit sleeps in Syria and refugees.

And while talking about the role of third actors in the Balkans, the interlocutors share the opinion that we should not make the mistake of putting Turkey in that basket, since Turkey, after all, is the largest country in the Balkans, and not an actor of foreign./ CNA.al