‘Yes' result means ‘extra' $4,600 per citizen


With a "yes" win in the referendum on April 16, the transformation of the Turkish political system to a "presidential government" and the perception of a professional government will pave the way for a much faster and effective decision making process and capability in the areas of Turkey's economy, public administration and security. The laws and reforms of adjustment that will give meaning to the political model change will contribute to Turkey's ability to create added value. The special report that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) prepared on Turkey pointed out that Turkey will raise the average growth performance over the course of the Republican period from 4.7-4.9 percent to 5.2-5.7 percent with reforms in education and the judiciary.That is why, as of the morning of April 17, we will enter a new intensive process of a "new Turkey" based on domestic-national means of energy, defense, transportation, logistics, science and technology. This process will require the realization of a new growth model in economics that is production- and labor-friendly, where manufacturing, industry and agriculture will have substantial weight. The main objective will be shaped to increase the share of Turkey's economy in global income and global trade to 1.5 percent within the period of 2023-2025. Achieving this target requires a transformation to form an economic structure based on domestic facilities, resources and skills. In this sense, one of the indispensable trivets of this structural transformation is political stability. A 2011 report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shows that political growth reflects as a 2.4 percent rise in the growth of countries.As also stated in the reports of international finance institutions, from April 17 onward, with political stability becoming permanent for Turkey's economy and with the rise of the republic's historic growth from 4.9 to 5.7 percent, the per capita income will rise to $22,600 over the 2023-2025 period. Yet, the current parliamentary system will allow Turkey to reach a per capita income of $18,000 during the same period. Thus, a "yes" will be reflected in every Turkish citizen's living standard as an "extra" $4,600. While the IMF's latest report points out that since the 1980s, the share of the labor force payments in national income was deteriorating in developing economies, in Turkey, the share of labor force payments in national income was 28.8 percent in 1998, 28.5 percent in 2006, 33.2 percent in 2015, and has risen to 36 percent in 2016. Turkey is not an economy that is growing by impoverishing its labor force. This basic fact should not be ignored in relation to the 15 years of success of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party)."New" political model for Turkey's economyThe 1982 Constitution was drawn up in a global environment where the global economy was of $11 trillion in size, the share of global trade in global national income was only 10 percent and the Cold War ruled. It is a Constitution based on a closed economic format where the state controlled all. The Turkish economy's share in the world economy was 0.7 percent. Turkey's exports share in global trade was not even 0.1 percent. Now, the Turkish economy's share in global national income has become 1.04 percent and its share in global trade has risen to 0.8 percent. The private sector manufactured only 35 percent of the country's economy in 1980 produces 75 percent of the added value creation. If we believe that we can talk about running the 21st century with a 1982 Constitution - following a 150-year-old perception of the bureaucracy, with a parliamentary structure from the Cold War era - and come up with strategic road maps for 2023, 2053 and 2071, Turkey using a governmental model that cannot come up with rapid solutions shows we have quite a long way to go.If we're projecting that Turkey can become the world's 15th largest, then 14th and finally 12th largest economy in 2023, 2030, and 2050, respectively, and that Turkey's economy could surpass $2 trillion in 2030 and $4.5 Trillion in 2050, let's be aware that it is impossible to achieve it without a new and more powerful "government model" based on national will. During the period leading up to the referendum, we had the chance to follow the requests of demanding citizens who know what "yes" means for Turkey's future, citizens that anxiously await the laws and reforms of adjustment that will carry Turkey to a higher league in world economy and politics if we wake up to a new Turkey on April 17. This "historic" threshold on April 16 is an important opportunity to support the future leaders of Turkey by strengthening the role of the young in politics. Let's overcome this threshold with a strong "yes" to bolster our role in the global political economy and for the future of Turkey, the only country that can alter the fate of Eurasia.