Korkut Boratav's 2023 article returns to the spotlight: The Palace will enter a four-year period of power without elections after March 2024
The cancellation of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu's diploma has brought to light a striking prediction made by economist and author Prof. Dr. Korkut Boratav in an article he penned in 2023
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While the cancellation of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s diploma has sparked widespread debate, an article titled "Turkey in 2024 and Beyond: The IMF Scenario," written by economist and author Prof. Dr. Korkut Boratav and published on November 17, 2023, in soL Haber, has returned to the agenda.
Boratav had suggested that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would manage this period through constitutional changes and policies to suppress public opposition, while also noting that an uncompromising neoliberal program would be implemented.
In his article, Boratav emphasized that human rights violations do not pose an obstacle for international finance capital, pointing out that this situation could actually increase the flow of foreign resources.
Boratav had used the following expressions regarding the economic and political dimensions of the process:
"The Palace will enter a four-year period of power without elections after March 2024. The President has made his intentions clear: during the years without elections, constitutional obstacles will be cleared away; public opposition will be suppressed. This 'rose garden without thorns' is the ideal environment for an uncompromising neoliberal program. Erdoğan knows that human rights do not matter to international finance capital. The program will be implemented; foreign resource flows will revive."
Boratav also evaluated the political transformation in Turkey with these words:
"The Republic, which began as a radical democratic revolution, is on the verge of turning into Islamist fascism in its 100th year. During the years without elections, constitutional obstacles will be cleared away, and public opposition will be suppressed."
This analysis by Boratav has been interpreted as offering important clues regarding the political and economic process Turkey will undergo in the coming years.
First statement from the İmamoğlu camp: "The decision is null and void"