Turkey's leader hopes to mend relations and reassure foreign investors who ditched his struggling economy.
President Erdogan was pictured chatting to Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg , US President Joe Biden , UK PM Rishi Sunak and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this weekRecep Tayyip Erdogan took a big step this week to warm relations with the West, in a quick political pivot that comes as Turkey's president looks for solutions to a long and worsening economic crisis.
"It's classic Erdogan. It comes out of nowhere, the sudden shift in policy and tone," said Batu Coskun, an Ankara-based political analyst at the Sadiq Institute think tank. "Any other political leader would suffer from such a U-turn. But he's prospering from it." But the swiftness of his change of heart is being seen as a clear sign he is taking a more constructive approach with US and European allies who, for years, have worried about democratic backsliding in Turkey.with France's Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Confidence abroad, but urgency at home to revive Turkey's floundering economy. It was the biggest issue in his hard-fought election win in a historic second-round vote at the end of May. That's because inflation here is hovering stubbornly at just under 40%, down from its peak of 85.5% in October 2022.While central banks around the world have raised interest rates to cool rising prices, President Erdogan has resisted economic orthodoxy, arguing that higher rates would cause prices to rise. Instead he has kept pressure on the Turkish central bank to keep borrowing costs low.Rent in the area has surged 400% over the past year and a half, he complains.
Together with newly-appointed central bank governor Hafize Gaye Erkan - who also has Wall Street experience - he oversaw the first rise in interest rates the country has seen in 27 months, from 8.5% to 15%.
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