The first country to develop through planning

Following the long and exhausting First World War, the Turkish nation, which emerged victorious from the War of Independence, opened the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on April 23, 1920, under the leadership of the great leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. During these years, Turkey, with its collapsed economy and lost military power, aimed to restore its financial independence.

However, the economic wreckage inherited from the Ottoman Empire, the resources diverted to finance the War of Independence, the struggles against pro-Sharia and separatist elements, and the decisions taken at Lausanne pushed Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to develop a unique economic policy to ensure that the revolution achieved in the political sphere could also be realized in the economic sphere.

In the early years of the Republic, despite the insufficient economic means available to the state, no concessions were made regarding national independence, and the reconstruction and development of the country were carried out with the limited resources it possessed; Atatürk's economic model, which was an alternative to both socialism and capitalism, suitable for the economic conditions of underdeveloped countries, and mindful of social justice, ensured a planned and orderly development by rejecting colonialism. Atatürk's foresight, being aware that the state needed to participate in the economic development process and that this process needed to be carried out in a planned manner, gave Turkey the distinction of being the first country among underdeveloped nations to carry out development in a planned way.

The reasons why the implemented policies could not achieve higher success can be listed as follows:

• In the new republican government, whose economy started from almost zero, private savings and private enterprise were very scarce.

• Trade was in the hands of minorities and Levantines; even they did not have sufficient capital to transfer to industry.

• Most Turks had chosen or were forced to choose the professions of civil service and military service.

• Farmers were disconnected from the market due to deficiencies in transportation; they were in a closed economy, working with very low technology and capital.

• The state did not have sufficient tax revenue.

• In the early years of the Republic, the government had to focus on suppressing objections and rebellions from pro-Sharia factions and ensuring the necessary reforms for modern Turkey rather than achieving economic growth and development, and this situation led to a lack of resources. The speech delivered by the Minister of Economy of the period, Mahmut Esat Bozkurt, at the Izmir Economic Congress in 1923, in a sense, reflects the logic of Kemalist economic policies. The new Turkish economy cannot be identical to any of the existing economic systems and policies. It is imperative to follow a unique economic policy that is in line with our country's economic needs and the spirit of our economic history.

We are not bound by any of the schools within economic history. We are neither from the 'laissez-faire' school, nor are we socialist, communist, etatist, or protectionist.

We, too, have a new school of economics according to the new economic understanding of the new Turkey. I call this the 'New Turkey School of Economics'.

While not being bound by any of the economic systems mentioned above, we will not neglect to benefit from them according to our country's needs.