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Some leaders \u2013 including some of the world\u2019s most experienced \u2013 still haven\u2019t understood that political maneuvering and intimidation almost always degenerate into macroeconomic disasters. What was initially just meant to sideline a political opponent immediately turned into investor panic and a financial hemorrhage. A textbook case of how to methodically and deliberately destroy what little trust remained in a Turkey whose desert crossing now seems endless.<\/p>\n
The masterstroke came with the arrest, on March 19th, of the Mayor of Istanbul \u2013 the frontrunner for the upcoming Turkish presidential elections \u2013 on a grave charge that would disqualify many of our own French political leaders. He was accused \u2013 without proof \u2013 of \u201cirregularities\u201d regarding his 1990 degree from the American University of Girne (Northern Cyprus). The University of Istanbul promptly responded by revoking the equivalency of his degree, which made him de facto ineligible for the presidency, as the Turkish Constitution requires presidential candidates to hold a university diploma. As of July 2025, an additional accusation alleges that Mr. \u0130mamo\u011flu actually falsified his university degree, making him liable for prison time on charges of \u201cforgery of official documents.\u201d<\/p>\n
That March 19th set off a historic chain reaction, triggered by irrational manipulations carried out by a ruling power that clearly values ego over the economic and financial stability of the nation. This was not about reforms \u2013 however controversial \u2013 but about a destruction of confidence that cost the Central Bank $90 billion. The bank has nearly depleted its reserves in an attempt to defend against the uncontrollable collapse of its currency, which that day alone plummeted by\u2026 12%! In a global context where most central banks are cutting rates to stimulate their economies, Turkey once again stood out by being forced to raise its benchmark interest rate to… 46% in an effort to contain the tsunami unleashed on March 19th \u2013 the day a presidential candidate was disqualified over a diploma.<\/p>\n
The situation would be laughable if it weren\u2019t so serious for the people of a country rendered completely dysfunctional \u2013 next to which even Argentina looks sober. The leadership shows no concern for the flatline of foreign investment or for the economic bleeding, because staying in power is all that matters. Its survival comes before prosperity and before any bailout that might bring desperately needed liquidity to its people. The Turkish lira, which just 10 years ago was below 2 to the dollar, and below 5 seven years ago, has now plummeted to 40. The price of a liter of gasoline has risen from 1.48 lira in 2002 to 53 today. Inflation stands at 49%, likely underestimated since the government controls 85% of national media.<\/p>\n
Was there a particular message the country\u2019s leaders wanted to send to the markets through this arrest?<\/p>\n
Absolutely: that stability is optional \u2013 authority is not<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Welcome to Turkish governance.<\/p>\n \n ———————————————————————————————————————————————–<\/p>\n Before leaving, leaf through chapter 49 (Jerusalem) of A Levantine Youth<\/em> with me<\/strong><\/p>\n The young soldier, who looked no different from the other customers and passersby, whom no one would have suspected was Jewish since he wasn\u2019t wearing a kippa, launched into a full-blown tirade against this woman, who was clearly an Orthodox Jew. \u201cI just came back from Beirut, where I was with our army, and I am ashamed of your contempt toward Muslims. You are completely ignorant, and you, like your kind, wallow in your disgrace. You derive immense satisfaction from your splendid isolation and your way of seeing the world. Are you even aware that just three days ago, thousands of defenseless Palestinian civilians were slaughtered\u2014with the active complicity of our country\u2019s army? I was there, yes, me, on the rooftops of the buildings surrounding those camps, and I can testify\u2014looking you straight in the eye\u2014about the screams of death we, the Jews of our proud Tsahal, heard for two days. Well, we\u2019ll carry those screams with us to our graves! Our commanders called Ariel Sharon in the middle of the night to inform him of the ongoing massacre and ask for instructions. He simply thanked the caller, hung up, and went back to sleep, without lifting a finger, when a single call to the Mossad and the Christian leaders could have stopped that bloodbath! We have thousands of innocents on our conscience; their blood will fall back on our people. And during all this, you sit in your little bubble of comfort, with your pitiful certainties, daring to give us a history lesson about the Jews and claiming that Allah won\u2019t listen to the prayers of His faithful?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We have lost all morality, we are a fragmented people, we no longer have that sense of individual responsibility that was once the touching beauty of the Jewish people. The absolute tragedy is that these sufferings, these traumas, have no impact, no translation into political thought. Public and political discourse remains impermeable to practical experience and cold in the face of these crimes. This compartmentalization, this dissociation, reflects a sick society. I fear that Israel, my country, is doomed to implode under the weight of cruelty and stupidity. I\u2019m going to say a word you know. You\u2019ll understand it immediately: Sinat Hinam<\/em>. Yes, we have now reached that stage of baseless hatred that was the main reason for the destruction of the two Temples. It is our desire to harm, our wickedness, our mistrust that will destroy us\u2014the very same things that led to the fall of our temples. Contrary to what you and your kind keep shouting, blaming ancient kings, the Romans, the Arabs, the Palestinians\u2014every one of our tragedies has been our own doing, the result of this baseless hatred. This people, martyred for 2,000 years, has forgotten everything. Just a few weeks ago, as you well know, we had Tisha B\u2019Av<\/em>, when we were supposed to remember past catastrophes and reflect on their causes. This year, for me, within our occupying army, Tisha B\u2019Av<\/em> was especially sad, and that\u2019s when I had this awakening\u2014a mourning for Israel, threatened with dissolution because of us, the Jews, and our deep spiritual illness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Some leaders \u2013 including some of the world\u2019s most experienced \u2013 still haven\u2019t understood that political maneuvering and intimidation almost always degenerate into macroeconomic disasters. What was initially just meant to sideline a political opponent immediately turned into investor panic and a financial hemorrhage. A textbook case of how to methodically and deliberately destroy what…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":29794,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_crdt_document":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[648942950,648941926,648941925],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-turkey","category-turkish-hyperinflation","category-turkish-lira"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michelsanti.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/M.-Santi-Une-jeunesse-levantine.jpg?resize=1170%2C1729&ssl=1\")
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