Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said that Turkey should not join the eurozone at the "2015 Expectations and the Importance of Turkey in the Global Economy" conference, which took place at the fourth Çukurova Summit organized by the Çukurova Young Businessmen Association. Stiglitz also added that 2015 will be a year full of risks. Stiglitz underscored that while Europe's economy, resources, capital, equity, institutions and associations are still the same as in 2008, there is a crisis, which was solely caused by switching to the euro. "Europe was a political project and leaders thought once they unite around one currency, the countries will also unite. However, such integration between institutions was never achieved, and euro has not united Europe; on the contrary, it is dividing it at the moment," Stiglitz said. He highlighted that the number of requests to decrease interest rates made to the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey were appropriate, as high interest rates will decrease exports and slow down economic growth. Furthermore, industrialists and businessmen that were adversely affected from the high interest rate policy of the Turkish central bank also repeated their requests to lower interest rates.