What lesson did the "Turkey is One Heart" campaign teach Azerbaijan?

Baku/16.02.23/Turan: More than 115 billion liras were collected during the humanitarian campaign under the motto "Turkey is one heart", which last night was broadcast jointly by most of Turkey's leading TV channels. The campaign was attended by businessmen, artists, politicians, representatives of public organizations from all over the country.

The Central Bank of Turkey (30 billion lira), Ziraat Bank (20 billion lira) and VakifBank (12 billion lira) donated the most.

The collected aid will be donated to AFAD (Afet ve Acil Durum Yönetimi Başkanlığı - Disaster Management and Emergency Management) and the Red Crescent Movement.

That night, we witnessed how businesspeople competed for the opportunity to help the victims of the earthquake. Businessmen generously donated their earnings thanks to the business conditions created by Turkey.

And what conditions are created for businesspeople in Azerbaijan?

Economist Elchin Rashid talks about this in the “Difficult Question” program hosted by Kamran Mahmudov.

According to Elchin Rashid, today the conditions for doing business and businesspeople in Turkey are not the same as they were about 10 years ago. Not the same political and economic freedoms, although democracy is not violated there as it is in our country.

“Now Turkey ranks 103rd among 167 countries of the world in terms of democracy index. It's not a very honorable place. In Turkey, there is a so-called hybrid regime (a mixed type of political regime emerging on the basis of an authoritarian one as a result of an incomplete democratic transition - ed. note). This means that there are no political freedoms, human rights at the desired level. It also has an impact on the economy and the media. Everything is not the same as before. There have been changes, and not for the better,” he said, and noting that everything is known in comparison, he added, “Of course, if we compare Turkey with Azerbaijan, then entrepreneurs in Turkey have more freedom and even finance various political parties.”

Referring to the "Turkey - One Heart" campaign, Rashid stressed that its success is due to the fact that the traditions of civil society are still alive in Turkey. “People then do charity work, donate more when they are sure that donations will be used transparently and efficiently,” he stressed.