Is the economy failing to recover?

Our country is among those most affected by the war waged against Iran. The primary reasons for this include our historical ties, shared geography, and status as neighbors. Iran is one of our key trading partners and a country with which we have high levels of border trade. If Iran's arm is broken, we suffer the headache.

This attack on Iran is, beyond a war, a crime committed against its people and an attempt at annihilation. On a further level, it carries the nature of a genocide. Imperialists have no concern for the freedom of Iran or the peoples of the region. Imperialists do not love freedom; on the contrary, they are its enemy. It should not be forgotten that those who walk hand-in-hand with imperialists will one day be stabbed in the back by those same imperialists. No country is obligated to feed these powers.

We see that imperialists remain ineffective when faced with societies whose people are loyal to their state. The most important indicator that the weapons of imperialists have no power against national unity and solidarity is the Turkish nation's National War of Liberation. This struggle, waged under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, is one of the greatest examples of resistance in history. Today, the people of Iran are demonstrating a different dimension of this resistance.

It is a fact that the government, aware that war should not be resorted to unless necessary, is trying to overcome this process by paying economic costs. However, while our country, which had significant economic savings and Central Bank reserves before the war began, had entered a process of mitigating the effects of the crisis, the war has eroded these savings once again.

While our people are already struggling to pay the price for economic crises and corruption, the war has made a new economic burden inevitable. For this reason, the finance and economic management will be forced to revise their Medium-Term Program and budget projections. The main areas for revision are interest rates, exchange rates, unemployment, borrowing, inflation, current account deficit, and growth rates.

February 27, 2026:

Gross reserves: 210.3 billion dollars

Gold: 136.8 billion dollars

Foreign currency: 73.5 billion dollars

IMF reserve position + SDR: 7.8 billion dollars

Net reserves: 91.8 billion dollars

Net reserves excluding swaps: 78.8 billion dollars

March 27, 2026:

Gross reserves: 155.3 billion dollars

Gold: 100 billion dollars

Foreign currency: 55.3 billion dollars

Net reserves: 35.1 billion dollars

Net reserves excluding swaps: 20.2 billion dollars

April 17, 2026:

Gross reserves: 174.5 billion dollars

Gold: 112.6 billion dollars

Foreign currency: 61.9 billion dollars

Net reserves: 58.4 billion dollars

Net reserves excluding swaps: 39.5 billion dollars

April 22, 2026:

Gross reserves: 176.6 billion dollars

Net reserves excluding swaps: 42.5 billion dollars

These data show that the economy is entering a recovery trend. However, the harsh practices of the finance administration toward taxpayers may increase economic stagnation. Therefore, flexibility in tax policies must be provided and taxpayers must be supported.

Prof. Dr. DURAN BÜLBÜL