Central Bank is Erdoğan's latest target
Now we know. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has a talent for finding someone to argue with under every condition.
Nothing stops him. He constantly wants to yell at someone; to teach someone a lesson.
His most recent enemy is Erdem Başçı, the governor of the Central Bank. Erdoğan has picked a fight with Başçı because he is not lowering interest rates. The president is using incomprehensible sentences like “If you are independent, I am independent, too.”
But it was Erdoğan who picked Başçı for the job. He wanted to have Başçı as the governor of the Central Bank so much! Başçı’s appointment was not accepted by the then-President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, but it was Erdoğan who sent the decree for Başçı immediately after Abdullah Gül succeeded Sezer as president.
There are two possibilities: Either Erdoğan does not know how to select people, as he is not happy with Başçı, who he himself picked; or he is looking for someone to pick a fight with.
But I have a feeling that there is a game involved in this whole issue. With a parliamentary amendment, the government can change Başçı or change his responsibilities, in order to lower the rates.
They have not done this. Instead, they talk as if they want to put all of the blame about negative economic developments on Başçı. It is as if everything could have been going well with Turkey's economic situation, but because of Başçı the economy is not doing so well.
The governor of the Central Bank is an interesting man. He is attacked by the president from one side and by the ministers from the other side. But he does not bow down. Perhaps he has been told “We’ll shout at you, but don’t mind us; continue doing what you know is right.
The president is right!
Erdoğan recently invited the deputy group chairs of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), along with members of its executive committee, to his palace for a meal.
It is indeed interesting for a president who has taken the “impartiality oath” to organize such a meal and host the administrators of only one party.
We already knew that he would not keep his oath, but I don't know what the point of doing this so abruptly was.
During the meal, Erdoğan conveyed his views to the AKP delegation about the “transparency package” recently revealed by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. According to reports, what Davutoğlu called a “new package” was actually passed with a Prime Ministry circular issued by Erdoğan in 2010.
The president also said he thought it was not appropriate for this topic to be brought up before the elections. “The declaration of property has to be done very carefully. With the way things are, you would not be able to find a province or district head to take office. The economy must be taken into consideration while making such decisions,” he said.
The latter is the aspect in which I find the president to be correct. If one cannot receive gifts with peace of mind and full enjoyment, then who would want to go into politics?
Here, in our country, it is predictable for politicians to come to power to become rich. If this opportunity is taken from them, who would ever go into politics? Who would become the head of a provincial organization, a deputy or a cabinet minister?
Please, let’s not lose our track!
