EGF Turkey File, January 2015

Insights into Turkish Domestic and International Politics
1 January — 5 February 2015
By John VanPool, EGF Turkey and Black Sea Regional Analyst

Key Points:

• Fethullah Gulen lambasts the AKP in the pages of The New York Times for Turkey"s perceived lurch toward autocracy. The government responds by seizing Gulen-affiliated Bank Asya for a lack of transparency.
• Free speech and journalism are increasingly under threat in Turkey as the AKP continues to crack down on critics, regardless of the issue.
• Greece"s new right-wing defence minister threatens to undermine Turkish-Greek relations in the eastern Mediterranean.
• The Turkish lira continues to slide against the dollar after the Turkish Central Bank considers cutting interest rates. President Erdogan continues to push for lower rates as a measure of fighting inflation, despite general economic theory to the contrary.