Covid-19 exposing vulnerabilities of Turkish economy

Mohamed Abdelghaffar

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party keeps spreading lies about the strength of the Turkish economy, even as reports attest to the presence of economic crises in Turkey.

The outbreak of the Covid-19 virus also came to belie statements by Turkish officials and officials of the ruling party about the economy.

Real test

World governments took a series of painful measures to stem the Covid-19 tide. These measures have had their toll on the economy.

Nevertheless, Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the officials of the Justice and Development Party are busy spreading falsehoods about the strength of the economy. This is especially true with ordinary Turkish citizens beginning to feel the heat from the economic crisis in their country.

Labor rising up

The working class has been hit the hardest by the Covid-19 virus outbreak in Turkey. This is why the trade unions are mounting a campaign of criticism against the ruling party and the Turkish president.

The unions said in a statement on April 7 that Erdogan did nothing to back the working class in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Private companies have started laying off their workers in different Turkish cities, the unions said in their statement.

This would have never happened if the government had honored its responsibility of protecting the workers, they added.

Real victim

The Turkish government put some cities on lockdown to narrow the scope of the Covid-19 disease. This has increased the suffering of the residents of these cities.

The agricultural sector was most affected by these measures, especially given the fact that the cities put on the lockdown are the most agriculturally productive in Turkey.

Turkish farmers find it very hard to cultivate some crops because of the lack of equipment and other necessities.