Erdogan dismisses head of statistics for revealing reality of decline in Turkish economy
The President of the Turkish regime, Recep TayyipErdogan, has dismissed the head of the National Statistical Organization, Said Erdal Dinger, for publishing figures revealing the reality of high inflation in the Turkish economy.
Erdal had published data early this month that estimated the annual inflation rate in Turkey at 36.1 percent, its highest level in 19 years, due to the decline of the Turkish lira.
Erdal’s dismissal came according to a decree published today, in which Erhan Cetinkaya, the former vice president of the Turkish Banking Regulatory Authority, was appointed as the new head of the National Statistics Authority. But Erdogan, who has dismissed three central bank governors since 2019, didn’t justify the reason for his aforementioned decision.
For his part, an economist at Blue Bay Asset Management, Timothy Ashe, considered that the dismissal decision will only increase the distrust in official economic data, stressing that Erdogan regime’s economic policies are indeed a source of concern in Turkey.
In another decision, Erdogan appointed former Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag as Minister of Justice, replacing ruling party member Abdulhamit Gul, who has held the position since 2017.
The dismissals come 18 months before Turkey’s presidential election as Erdogan finds himself in an uncomfortable position due to increasing public opposition to his policies.
Erdogan’s repressive policies and his attempts to control the country’s economy have regressed on the Turkish currency, which is steadily declining, as well as on tourism and investments, where the country’s foreign exchange earnings have declined.
Erdogan had earlier threatened the media with imposing new repressive measures against them under the pretext of what he called “protecting the national culture in the country,” without specifying what this culture is or the justifications for his threats. Many Turkish analysts considered this threat a step to impose more censorship on the Turkish media despite about 90 %of them have become state-owned or close to the government in recent years.
Inas Abdulkareem