Notes from Bilge Yilmaz breakfast

TURKEY - In Brief 23 Mar 2023 by Atilla Yesilada

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On Tuesday, I and 6 of my economist/columnist colleagues were invited to breakfast by Bilge Yılmaz, head of economic policy at IYIP. I wanted to share my impressions from the “on-the-record” part of the conversation. The “off-the-record” part was largely anecdotes and conversation about politicians, which I didn’t pay much attention to, anyhow. I had the opportunity to chat with Yılmaz in a small group before. His knowledge and experience are indisputable, but he seems to have adapted to our political culture in a positive sense in the interim. He stated that close and sincere relationship has been established with Faik Öztrak, the head of the CHP’s economy team, and with some names, with backgrounds in economics and finance, in DEVA-Gelecek Party. I got the impression that Meral Aksener would appoint Yılmaz to an important economic position in the cabinet. In addition, Yılmaz also may have been put in charge of conducting the intra-alliance negotiations on economic issues. A short-list is ready for the CBRT president and critical positions in the bureaucracy. An expert "who used to work at the Bank and currently works in the private sector abroad" will be Yılmaz’s choice to head CBRT. In addition to merit for critical cadres in the economic bureaucracy, Gulenist connections in the past have been carefully investigated. Yılmaz attaches great importance to the Nation Alliance appointing ONLY people with clean backgrounds. Yılmaz's intention is to announce a comprehensive stabilization program similar to the classical IMF stand-by agreements, but more suitable for Turkish conditions, and to put it into practice without waiting for the March 2024 local elections. Yılmaz b...