AFP, Istanbul :
President-elect Recep Tayyip Erdogan has based his political success on a strong Turkish economy, but a tricky external environment and concerns about the wisdom of some policies means he may have a bumpier ride ahead.
The domination of Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), which came to power in 2002, was built out of the ruins of Turkey’s economic crisis in 2001 when the stock market crashed and inflation soared.
The AKP has since overseen average annual growth of five percent since 2003 and the rise of many ordinary Turks to European levels of prosperity, achievements which helped Erdogan win seven elections and two referenda in just over a decade.
The question now is whether Erdogan will be able to continue and build on these economic achievements when he moves from the office of the prime minister to the presidency on Thursday.
The external environment has grown less benign for Turkey in recent months, as the US Federal Reserve has tapered down its stimulus programme that benefited emerging economies and the strife in Iraq has robbed Turkey of a major export market.
But doubts have also grown about the wisdom of Erdogan’s economic thinking as he has challenged the independence of the central bank and pushed it to cut interest rates at a time of rising inflation.
