The Turkish economy has grown by 4.3 percent in the first quarter of 2014. According to figures released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), the unemployment rate hit one-digit numbers once again and dropped to 9.1 percent. Istanbul's third airport, the foundations of which were laid a few weeks ago, is slated to be the world's largest airport, with an annual capacity of 150 million passengers. The air hub is slated to make Turkey the transportation center of Europe. Istanbul Atatürk Airport has been inundated by passengers in the tourist season and has set a historic record with a total of 150,000 passengers passing through each day. Kenan Evren and Tahsin Şahinkaya, maestros of the1980 coup d'état, have been brought before a court and sentenced to aggravated life sentences, thanks to the constitutional amendments accompanied by the 2010 referendum, which was drafted under the leadership of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party). The verdict stipulated that the ranks of the two haughty generals will be downgraded to that of a private.
The Greek elementary school in the village of Agridia in Imbros, which has been confiscated for nearly 50 years, was given back to the Greek community in order to operate as a middle and high school. The governors of Arpaçay, Akyaka and Digor, Turkish districts located along the Turkish-Armenian border, and a delegation of Armenian frontier guards held a meeting in Gyumri, Armenia to discuss border issues. They decided to hold the next meeting in Turkey. This is another important step on behalf of normalization efforts initiated by the state.
Turkey and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) signed a 50-year deal to export Kurdish oil to world markets through Turkish territory and this has gone down in history as the most profitable agreement in the history of the Republic.
It was announced that $93 million (TL 197 million ), the revenue of the first batch of Kurdish oil, has been deposited in Turkey's Halkbank. Contrary to some assertions, the one who has derived profit from this deal is not American banks, but Turkey. For the old Turkey, the existence of the KRG constituted a redline that was to be avoided. However for the new Turkey, the alliance with it has almost become a redline which is indispensable. The KRG Minister of Natural Resources Ashti Hawrami has confirmed this redline by saying they will not declare independence without consulting Turkey. The first graduates of the Kurdology Institute of Mardin Artuklu University have received their diplomas. Thus, the educational infrastructure in the Kurdish language has started to be formed.
The draft law that implies the new phase of the reconciliation process has been proposed in parliament and will allow the process to play out in a legal framework. Thus, it has been made official that the reconciliation process is state policy. All of these developments have occurred in the two months since April 30, when I temporarily quit writing as I gave birth to a baby. Those who hoped that Turkey would turn into bedlam in the period between May Day incidents and the first anniversary of the Gezi protests were sorely mistaken. When the Republican People's Party (CHP) leader was asked about a solution concerning the Kurdish question during a televised debate, he just said "I have forgotten now," regardless of all these developments. While the country flourishes with the flow of Kurdish oil and people make the most of the peaceful atmosphere created by the reconciliation process, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader still continues to refer to these actions as treachery.
Worse yet, leaders of the two opposition parties have named a presidential candidate, who was born in Cairo and did not set foot in Turkey until he turned 27, to run in the elections in which the people will elect their own president for the first time. People, most likely, have not heard of him as they cannot even pronounce his name proplerly. All this shows why Erdoğan will be elected president.
About the author
Hilal Kaplan is a journalist and columnist. Kaplan is also board member of TRT, the national public broadcaster of Turkey.
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