The governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party) won a critical election in its 20th year and put forward another five-year perspective. When the AK Party came to power, the Republic of Türkiye had severe problems.
Each nation has its own problems. If you are not located in the middle of the African Sahara or your country does not lack essential resources, the national leaders usually deal with the country’s problems.
At the beginning of the century, like all developing countries, Türkiye, while tackling its own problems on the one hand, was under the pressure of the countries that have exploited the world for 200 years on the other.
From the outside, Türkiye appeared to be an independent and strong state with a large territory governed by democracy for nearly 100 years. At first, it is hard to notice how Western states exploit developing countries and impoverish the people. Türkiye was a state where military tutelage was instrumental until 2016. With the 1960 revolution, there was a coup per the NATO concept, and politics, administration and state power were given to the control of the army. It might be enough to mention it alone to underline that independence was at sight from the outside.
When Recep Tayyip Erdogan took over the administration, he faced a status interregnum from an economic point of view. The military authority was always on the shoulders of the rulers. Society had lost its self-confidence. State authority had become weak and dysfunctional. Although Türkiye was not in the category of underdeveloped countries then, it was fragile with the lack of proper infrastructure.
President Erdoğan completed the infrastructure for transportation, energy and health systems in Türkiye during his 20-year rule. In fact, Türkiye was raised to the level of developed countries regarding contemporary infrastructures. All necessary investments thereof paid off.
In his current period, which is considered the period of mastery, Erdoğan is expected to focus on more sophisticated areas. The first of these areas is to improve the legal system. Western states have built their legal system and trained their people to comply. If we look at the given data to date in Türkiye, not only is the status of the legal system problematic, but there are deeper problems with the citizens complying with the laws and regulations.
The second issue that the government should address is the completion of the institutionalization of the state comprehensively. The AK Party has regulated relations between citizens and the state since it was founded. And the requests of people have always been honored by state institutions. Especially with the beginning of the digital age, Türkiye established one of the best functioning digital infrastructures globally, and applications such as e-Nabız (a highly trustworthy personal health record system) in health, and e-Devlet (a web-based system built for government services) in internal affairs, are working perfectly. The government must improve and enable these positive practices to extend overall to every level and every corner of state administration one by one.
Besides tourism, which has remarkably developed and turned Türkiye into one of the most attractive destinations in the world, health tourism is also on the agenda. After establishing one of the most modern health infrastructures, and with the progress of medical education in the country that places world-class graduates in every medical branch, a very sophisticated new industry is emerging, which will contribute to the national economy immensely, as much as tourism.
On the other hand, in the past decade, Türkiye has taken critical steps to change the terms of its security paradigm, and the progress in this field affected diplomacy. The pace taken in international politics has brought Türkiye together with its historical mission. Since the collapse of the Ottoman state, there has always been a demand for Türkiye in the Balkans, Africa, the Far East and the Middle East. However, Türkiye was not so prepared to hear the call of its fate with a fragile infrastructure and without strong leadership. Today, the state of the Republic of Türkiye has emerged at a level as per global expectations, and one of the critical duties of the government will be to reinforce these diplomatic ties and enhance cultural relations on reliable grounds permanently.
In summary, the state of the Republic of Türkiye completed its development in terms of rough investments in infrastructure under the administration of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and emerged as a developed country. It is time for further development and improvement in sophisticated fields such as law, human rights and economics. It will not be able to maintain the level of development it has achieved otherwise. And when Türkiye can repeat its success in investments in more sophisticated fields, its progress and impact worldwide will be magnified by far.
