CHP leader appoints US economist as advisor

ANKARA

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the chairman of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) has appointed an American economist, Jeremy Rifkin, as chief economy advisor, the daily Hürriyet reported on Dec. 1.

Kılıçdaroğlu will unveil an ambitious vision for the economic and industrial development of Türkiye on Dec. 3 under the title “A call for the second Century,” referring to the beginning of the second centennial of the Republic of Türkiye in 2023.

Rifkin will also make a presentation at the meeting. Prof. Daron Acemoğlu, Prof. Uğur Akçiğit, Prof. Hakan Kara and Prof. Refet Gürkaynak will make presentations as well.

According to Hürriyet, Rifkin, who is known as the mastermind of the third industrial revolution, also served as an advisor to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Rifkin is cited as economic and social theorist, writer, public speaker, political advisor, and activist by the Wikipedia. He is the author of 22 books about the impact of scientific and technological changes on the economy, the workforce, society, and the environment, it adds.

The business world, the representatives of employers and workers, trade unions, relevant economy and industry chambers have all been invited to the meeting to be held in Istanbul.

According to the sources, Kılıçdaroğlu’s vision will cover multiple titles that have a direct impact on the sustainable development of the country, including institutional reforms, green economy, fight against poverty, high value-added investment projects and industry 4.0.

In the meantime, Kılıçdaroğlu attended a panel jointly organized by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Social Democracy Foundation (SODEV) late on Nov. 30.

“We are living in a very beautiful country, but it has too many problems. In order to overcome these problems, an approach for a strong social state should be put into practice,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.

Social democracy should come to power in Türkiye for resolving all the pending problems and turning the country into a welfare state, he stated, vowing they will make it happen when they come to power in next year’s presidential and parliamentary polls.