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    Double IssueAUTUMN 1997

    VOL. 1/2 NO. 4/5



Introduction At the Crossroads

chairman's view Muharrem Kayhan
The chairman of TÜSIAD presents an overview of the private sector's development in the context of Turkish modernization.

economic indicators TÜSIAD research group
Facts and figures from the Turkish economy prepared by TÜSIAD economics research division.

turkey watch Soli Özel
Soli Özel reviews an eventful year in politics. He argues that the challenges ahead for Turkey necessitate a clear and correct assessment of the change in government that took place in July.

interview Nüzhet Kandemir
The long serving ambassador of Turkey in Washington offers a perspective on Turkey's strategic choices and comments on relations with the EU, the U.S.A,Greece and Russia

Global view Güliz Ger
In a comparative essay "Materialism across cultures" a look at the causes of the kind and level of consumption in 12 countries.

spotlight A portrait of the opera artist Leyla Gencer
Essay by Zeynep Oral

goings on Mehmet Inhan
The Istanbul Informatics Convention was quite an event by any standards. A tour along the site and to Turkey's cyber-future.

cities Yavuz Zeytinoglu
The chairman of a successful provincial conglomerate presents the history of the industrialization of his hometown, Eskisehir.

slice of life Ayse Akmen Çolakoglu
Ayse Akmen Çolakoglu takes us through a palate enriching tour in Izmir and the Aegean region.

Book review Nilüfer Kuyas
A review of James Pettifer's popular, factually flawed but important book, The Turkish Labyrinth.

essay Enis Batur
One of Turkey's most accomplished essayists compares Peter Greenaway and Akiro Kurosawa's rendering of Shakespeare in film: "Could it really be that Shakespeare was Japanese?"

eye on tüsiad TÜSIAD goes to Washington

PRIVATEVIEW : AUTUMN 1997

Cover Story Turkey's Transformations


Haluk Tükel Turkey can no longer delay taking the necessary macroeconomic stablilization measures to complete the reform program it began in the 80s. The Secretary General of TÜSIAD, Dr. Haluk Tükel, presents the case for the urgency of new reforms by linking Turkey's economic prospects to the process of globalization in his "Globalization and Macroeconomic Stability."

Ercan Kumcu A leading analyst of the Turkish Economy reviews the steps Turkey has taken so far in modernizing its economic structure. Dr. Ercan Kumcu's "Prospects for the economy in 1998" then analyzes the declared economic program of the current government and assesses its viablity.

Nurhan Yentürk In a penetrating essay, "Destined to be in crisis?" Dr. Nurhan Yentürk draws attention to the investement side of the economic picture. Arguing that the structural reforms did not go far enough, she calls for more resources for R&D and immediate, radical tax reform.

Rüstü Bozkurt Small and Medium Enterprises are getting a lot of attention as engines of growth in the globalization economy of the information age. Dr. Rüstü Bozkurt makes a case in eight points about the actual situation and the prospects of SMEs in Turkey in his essay, "The SME factor."

Ayse Bugra Post-Fordism and production structures associated with it are hailed throughout the world. Dr. Ayse Bugra critically evaluates 'flexible production' and analyzes the rise of SMEs and the so-called Anatolian Tiger in Turkey. She ends her powerful essay, "The Claws of the tiger" by emphasizing the necessity of bringing the welfare state institutions to an environment where work is organized along the principles of flexible production.

Zehra Kasnakoglu The skewed nature of income distribution in Turkey is one of the most disturing aspects of the Turkish scene. In her essay "Who gets what?" Dr. Zehra Kasnakoglu examines the problem of income distribution based on different criteria and concludes that long-term policies such as investing in human capital are needed to correct this picture.

Oguz Isik In "Changing Landscapes," Dr. Oguz Isik analyzes the transformations that had taken place in the regions and the urban areas of Turkey. While identifying the country's coastal areas as new poles of growth, he warns about the deepening social cleavages that bring forth issues such as ethnicity, religious affiliation, and class differences.

Menderes Çinar The erosion of the political center in Turkey has helped perpetuate the political instability in the country and enabled the anti-systemic Welfare Party to come to power. Menderes Çinar analyzes the developments that led to the ousting of the Welfare-led government and asks whether the center could be rebuilt easily in his essay "Mission Impossible?"

Cengiz Ilhan The former head of the Izmir Bar association, Cengiz Ilhan, argues that the Turkish justice system needs to change its understanding of its own role. In the "Independence of the Judiciary" he calls for a more citizen-oriented interpretation and application of law.

Ahmet Arslan One of the most hotly debated issues in social sciences and in the policy-making centers of the western world is the compatibility of Islam with democracy. In a resourcesfull essay, "Islam, Democracy and Turkey", Dr. Ahmet Arslan argues that one would search Islamic texts in vain looking for elements of democratic theory. Like Christianity before it, it is the life' s imperatives that will lead Islam to accommodate democracy exactly the way it did accommodate many other initially inimical currents that contributed to its power.

Ian O. Lesser To paraphrase Mark Twain, the news about the death of Turkey's strategic importance once the cold war ended was exaggerated. In a reflective essay, Dr. Ian O. Lesser makes a balance sheet of Turkey's strategic advantages and disadvantages. His essay, "In search of a post-Cold War role" calls for a new rationale in Turkish-American relations and questions the wisdom of the EU's rejection of Turkey's European aspirations.

Elizabeth Picard

text in french
text in english 		The growing intimacy in the relations between Turkey and Israel is one of the most fundamental transformations in Turkish foreign policy. Dr. Elizabeth Picard evaluates this relation in the context of the troubled politicals of the Middle East and calls for a critical dialogue with the closed regimes of the region in his "Retour a la guerre froide?"

Hasan Bülent Kahraman Republican Turkey's most impressive efforts at modernizing involved the cultural sphere. In "The culture in purgatory," Hasan Bülent Kahraman evaluates the transformation of Turkish culture in three distinct phases and concludes that the current cultural turmoil is transitory.

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PRIVATEVIEW : AUTUMN 1997