The Turkish economy quickly healed its wounds after the treacherous coup attempt on July 15, 2016, by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and broke new records every year, representatives of the business world said.
Nail Olpak, head of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK), stated that six years have passed since FETÖ's treacherous coup attempt that targeted Turkey's national will and democracy, and that on that dark night, the Turkish nation stood firm against the putschist mentality.
Despite treacherous coup attempts, global economic troubles, pandemics and unwanted wars, Olpak said Turkey has always managed to grow.
“Breaking new records in exports every year, adding strength to its industry and increasing employment with its young population, Turkey continues to grow and advance in global trade with the strength it receives from democracy and its nation,” he said.
Mahmut Asmalı, chairperson of the Independent Industrialists and Businesspersons Association (MÜSIAD), explained that the main purpose of all coups is to transfer resources, wealth and income, highlighting the damage caused to the economy by the Sept. 12 coup and the postmodern coup of Feb. 28 in Turkey.
Emphasizing that the July 15 coup attempt should also be evaluated in this context, Asmalı went on to say that although markets returned to normal with the successful policies of the economic administration immediately after July 15, this attempt had serious costs.
“According to the first determinations, we can estimate that this cost, which was approximately TL 300 billion, increased even more when the impact on the sub-sectors is taken into account,” he said.
Asmalı noted that the increase in the dollar exchange rate, the sales pressure in the markets and the interruption of production and economic activity with the July 15 attempt increased the economic damage, adding that the Turkish economy, which grew by 4.5% and 4.7% in the first two quarters, contracted in the third quarter of the year when the coup attempt took place.
"Considering the current size of our economy at the stage we have reached today, we see that all these costs we have mentioned cannot overshadow the financial gains achieved in the last 20 years,” he said.
“The Turkish nation, which stood up for its will on July 15, managed to preserve not only democracy but also the Turkish economy,” Asmalı said.
Head of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO), Şekib Avdagiç, also commented on the heroism of the Turkish nation against the coup plotters on the night of July 15, saying six years have passed since the FETO's coup attempt, “and we should not let ourselves be neglected, and we should not be complacent.”
“Just as our business world in Istanbul did not give way to the putschist mentality, it will not give the remnants of this mentality the right to live, and will be on a constant vigilance against them,” he said.
Erdal Bahçıvan, chairperson of the board of directors of the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO), also applauded the bravery of the Turkish public, who defended democracy at the cost of their lives in the face of the coup attempt.
Commenting on the attempted coup's effect on the economy, Bahçıvan emphasized that the Turkish economy did not lose its economic activity in that period and passed a very difficult test successfully. "Besides, the measures taken without wasting any time prevented a negative atmosphere from forming in the markets. The Turkish financial system has also been healthy since the first working day after the coup attempt. and it worked effectively, without any problems,” Bahçıvan said.
"As industrialists, we have always made the strongest contribution to our economic growth in the past six years. It should be noted that Turkey, which has always played important roles in its region and in the world, especially in the economy, is also a country with big goals for the future.”
Orhan Aydın, chairperson of the Anatolian Lions Businessmen's Association (ASKON), said that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s astute stance against the coup plotters was as harsh as they deserved and that the Turkish nation took an epic stand that night.
Highlighting the damage caused by the coup attempt to the economy, Aydın said that the increase in exchange rates, the decrease in tourism revenues and credit ratings, the delay in investments, the slowdown in employment and the increase in risk premium were all the results of that attempt.
However, Aydın said, “Despite all this chaos, we recovered in a short period of six to seven months with the strong stance of our state and our nation, and the support of the private sector and NGOs, and we were able to achieve growth figures that reached 7%.”
The president of the Istanbul Trade Exchange (İSTİB), Ali Kopuz, expressed that Turkey continued to grow after the third quarter of 2016 by repelling all negativities, adding that the minimum wage was hiked in recent months due to issues like inflation and rising costs of living.
“Measures are also being taken to stop the inflationary environment. Hopefully, this struggle will be concluded successfully as soon as possible and our economic struggle will be won, just like our fight for democracy," Kopuz said.
Nilüfer Çevikel, chairperson of the Young Business People's Association of Turkey (TÜGİAD), said that the Turkish nation had a great role in thwarting this treacherous afront on civilian politics with its support for democracy.
“As the TÜGİAD family, we once again express our belief in our country and democracy, and strongly condemn all attempts to disrupt our national unity and solidarity and aim to take our country to dark days,” Çevikel said./agencies
