Turkey Economy

Turkey’s economy has weathered some spectacular pratfalls in the past, with a major economic crisis in 2001 almost bringing the country to its knees. What’s different in 2004 from the previous "recoveries" is how committed Turkey is to establishing firm economic footing once and for all. The government is swallowing the International Monetary Fund’s painful economic medicine, making tough choices for fiscal discipline.

Turkey’s financial wunderkind, the 37-year old Minister of State for Treasury Ali Babacan credits a strong, popular and unified government with having both the clout in Ankara and the backing of the people to administer badly-needed shock therapy.

"During the last decade, stability has been a problem," Babacan concedes. "We had coalition governments and [frequent] early elections.

"But after the 2002 elections," which ushered his faintly Islamic yet pro-Western Justice and Development Party to power under Prime Minister R. Tayyip Erdogan, "we have a stable government, one the people have confidence in, which provides a much-needed base for economic recovery."

Erdogan came to Ankara under heavy suspicion due to his past in radical Islamist politics. But as mayor of ungovernable Istanbul he won grudging praise from political opponents for his hard work on civic issues and muted