Hunger Games start early

TURKEY - Report 02 Oct 2022 by Murat Ucer and Atilla Yesilada

The politics section kicks off with a personal view by the politics author, who suspects that foul play to win the elections might have already started. He cites the recent and unique PKK attack on a police station, a draconian social media censorship bill and new probes against popular CHP mayors, as well as other less certain yet scarier evidence, to claim that Turkey has stepped into a “dark tunnel” until the elections day.

Meanwhile though, the commentary regarding a crisis within the main opposition alliance, the Table of Six, is widely exaggerated, he thinks. To the contrary, the leaders are expected to unveil measures to deepen cooperation in a series of regular summits.

President Erdogan has launched his final counteroffensive on poor economic performance by promising a comprehensive and very costly fiscal stimulus package. More is likely to follow in the coming months. According to some but not all polls, the package is already causing a bump in his approval ratings and AKP’s poll support. The politics author claims the poll bounces are not sustainable, because hefty fiscal stimulus is almost certain to backfire in an economy managed by super risky policies, like cutting rates further.

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