June 14 - from economy to “curse”

The statements of ultimatum nature from two high-ranking diplomats who came from Washington were met with silence while eyes were set on June 14 and ears were pricked up for the news coming from the new cassettes. Those were the years, who would have thought it could happen? Until yesterday, these words were not left unanswered when they were uttered even in Washington.

Yes, we are talking about the "complete abandonment" of S-400s, the fate of other projects in the field of military cooperation. However, the difference from 5-6 months ago is that this time the issues of "human rights" and democracy were also added to the agenda. It was not added superficially but thoroughly. According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Çavuşoğlu, “S-400s will be 100% under our control. We saw off most of the specialists who came to teach. There will be no Russian specialists in Turkey.”

Although the words “we cannot accept attempts by other countries to prevent the use of missiles" were rated by Bloomberg as a "message to Washington" on the eve of the June 14 Biden-Erdoğan meeting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied this: “All our specialists are returning as planned. Returns are made in a pre-planned manner. The United States is putting a lot of pressure on Turkey over the S-400s but Turkey is firmly defending its position.”

Undoubtedly, Bloomberg's claim is part of the "pressure" mechanism that Peskov pointed out and can be expected to intensify on the eve of June 14. Because, despite the concessions that Turkey has brought to the agenda in various forms so far, the US position "we do not accept any option other than the complete abandonment of S-400s" has not changed.

Despite the payment, Turkey was completely excluded from the F-35 project because of the S-400s. In this case, will the option of "absolutely under our control" be accepted in Washington against the "complete abandonment" pressure? If the S-400 issue led to Turkey's complete exclusion from the F-35 project, why should Washington now accept the Turkish version of the S-400 issue? This will be shown by the Biden-Erdoğan meeting on June 14, so there is no need to make a pessimistic forecast for today.

As for Washington's demands for democracy and human rights, the mafia-police-politics relations that have shaken the country for the third time in the last 25 years have pushed not only democracy but also daily economic concerns into the background. At a time when devaluation cannot be prevented, President Erdoğan continues to insist on the postulate "high-interest rates are the main cause of inflation", and even Mr. Erdoğan's reiteration of his expectations for the Central bank to lower interest rates again is enough to raise the exchange rate.

As inflationary pressures continue to threaten the market, are the measures the Ministry of Finance is trying to take, from the 2% fixed taxes on mobile phone lines to the 30% special consumption taxes added to fuel, useful? Although all public opinion polls show that the economy is the main concern of citizens, it is becoming increasingly difficult to take effective measures in this direction.

Undoubtedly, there are objective reasons for this (especially the epidemic). The government has announced a series of economic measures since last summer, and the Central Bank's re-lowering of interest rates seems to be the most effective measure personally by the head of state. Will Şahap Kavcıoğlu, who was appointed the President of the Central Bank 2.5 months ago, take a step that his predecessor Naci Ağbal did not take during his 4.5 months in office and fulfill the President's request? Will there be a sharper devaluation if the demand is met? "In this mood and conditions", while everyone is waiting, the agenda is suddenly adorned with "curses" from the pulpit of the Hagia Sophia Mosque to the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

On July 24, 2020, a "curse" read by the head of the Directorate of Religious Affairs with a sword on his back against Atatürk takes the form of a series and everyone who goes up to the rostrum of the Hagia Sophia feels debted to do so. The main reason for this is an attempt to put the economic agenda in the background, even for a few days.

The Central Office of the Directorate of Religious Affairs in Ankara, founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, has become the ideological center of "curse" propaganda against the secular republic, and now the Hagia Sophia Mosque has taken over the function of being the center of propaganda against the secular republic. How to interpret this? Through satisfying egos in the current economic and political crisis in the country or sharpening ideological feelings, having the turbulent situation forgotten on the one hand and accelerating the preparations for the regime change on the other?

June 14 can clarify many things.

Mayis Alizade