Turkish Crisis and Aftermath (2001–2016)

Abstract

The chapter sets out to explore the dynamics of change in Turkish political economy following the 2001 crisis. The February 2001 turmoil was a critical juncture for Turkey as it put the socio-political and economic life into severe disarray. Despite its long-lasting hazardous impacts, the crisis opened up an opportunity window to reform the deeply flawed economic regime of the reactive Turkish state. The depth of the crisis disturbed power balances and denounced well-entrenched rent-seeking coalitions. It, therefore, created room for reformist state agents to step through in, which was capitalized on to a significant extent. In the economic realm, regulatory state as a new paradigm was introduced. Based on the three-stage framework, Kutlay argues that crisis did invite a paradigmatic change due to the emergence of a dominant crisis narrative along domestic-external nexus. The chapter also offers an account as to why Turkey experienced major setbacks in economic and political realms in the post-2011.