Turkey’s EU Membership? & more– 11th July 2023

Merhaba from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Turkey Update from the 11th of July twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Turkey.

Let’s kick off this episode with some international news.

In an unexpected twist, on Monday the 10th, President Erdoğan called for the European Union to approve Turkey’s membership application into the Union, and added that if they paved the way for Turkey, the country would pave the way for Sweden’s NATO membership. Erdoğan said that almost every NATO member was also a part of the EU. Surprisingly, the chief of NATO and the White House supported Erdoğan’s remarks. However, the European Union wasn’t as supportive. It stated that both organizations were separate entities and were, in no way, complementing each other, as some EU countries choose to take a neutral stance.

Russia also advised Turkey to take off its rose-tinted glasses, as no one in Europe really wants to see Turkey in the Union. Similarly, Erdoğan’s remarks were called into question, as they were not taken seriously. Some said that it was absurd for Europe to accept Turkey into the Union when the country allowed the entry of over ten million illegal immigrants. Others said that whenever Turkey experienced economic problems, it turned its face towards the West.

On a ‘historic’ note, as the chief of NATO defines it, later, on the same day, the chief announced that Erdoğan agreed to approve Sweden’s bid to join NATO. However, the Turkish Parliament still has to approve the decision. While this is good news for the West, how will the East take the news?

Following the Quran-burning demonstrations in Sweden, some muslim countries imposed an embargo on Swedish goods and called on other Muslim countries to join them.

Besides, Erdoğan has been in talks with the Gulf countries to attract more foreign currency flow into the country.

On a different note…

A group of Brazilian parliament members is planning on visiting Turkey to investigate a Turkish religious cult that took Amazonian children to Turkey to give them religious training.

The Brazilian MPs will look into how the cult obtained education visas for minors. The cult said that it had signed documents from the parents to take them to Turkey, however, Interpol stated that it was illegal to use signed documents to take children out of the country. Brazilian authorities stated that the local police, as well as Interpol, considered this an international human trafficking case.

Now some news on price hikes…

On Friday the 7th, the government shared the new tax rates in the Official Gazette. It doubled the motor vehicle tax. It also increased the value-added tax on goods and services. There are two VAT rates, 8% and 18%. The former went up to 10% and the latter to 20%, meaning the prices of basically everything will hike.

But that’s not it. The government also increased the tax on bank consumer loans from 10% to 15%, and passport fees went up 50%.

On top of that, the government also increased the International Mobile Equipment Identity, better known as IMEI, registration fee for phones bought from abroad. If you purchase a phone from abroad and want to use it in the country for more than three months, you have to pay a registration fee. The fee used to be six thousand liras, or 230 US Dollars. Now it’s twenty thousand liras, a little below 800 US Dollars, which is almost double the minimum wage in the country. The registration fee price hike came into effect on Saturday the 8th.

So, on Friday the 7th, to buy cheaper phones, hundreds of people living in border cities flooded the border gates, creating miles-long lines.

The move was called into question as the government might be using the fees to make up for the lost tax money from the dropping phone sales in the country. If people buy phones from abroad, then the government earns no tax money. Buying a phone abroad was more affordable because Turkey imposes very high taxes on phones. Despite the depreciation of the Turkish Lira against foreign currencies and the registration fee, buying cell phones abroad was cheaper. But with the new fee, it’s not a cheaper option anymore.

You’d think that’s enough price increases for one week… However, the consumption tax for alcohol and cigarettes also increased by almost 15%. Some cigarette companies increased their prices by five liras, or twenty US cents, per pack.

With all these price hikes, a salary increase was in order…

The Turkish Statistical Institute announced the six-month inflation rate as a little below 20%. In twenty twenty-two, the rate was a little over 40%. The government adjusts public servant wages and pension rates according to the inflation rate every six months. Now, it has increased the minimum wage for public servants to twenty-two thousand liras, a little below 850 US Dollars. Whereas the pension amount increased by 17%.

Experts say that this will cost the government around 180 billion liras, around 6 billion US Dollars, in the second half of twenty twenty-three But don’t worry, the government will make just as much money from the tax increases it imposed this week.

Last week, a video of Laura Mills at the İpsala custom gate went viral. The social media influencer and motorcyclist that travels around the world recorded a conversation she had with an official with her head camera. In the video, the official started off by saying that Mills looked younger than she is. He then got out of his booth and asked Mills to park to the side, asking if she’d like to have coffee with him. He also asked her if she had a boyfriend and whether she liked him.

Following the backlash the video got, the İpsala district governorate launched an investigation into the official. He was reportedly suspended from duty.

Let’s move on to some cultural news…

The İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality recently restored a 19th-century military factory in the Eyüpsultan district of the city and turned it into an art gallery named Artİstanbul Feshane. The current exhibition is called “Starting from the Middle, or “Ortadan Başlamak”. It displays many artworks from prominent artists of the country. While it is a nice development for the city, some Islamist organizations target the gallery, saying it insults moral and national values. “Consensus and Struggle Platform,” or “Fikirde Brilik ve Mücadele Platformu'' released a statement against the gallery, then tried to march inside the building yelling “God is the greatest,” or “Allahu Ekber”. However, the police stopped them. Reportedly, the same group attacked the gallery in a similar manner two weeks ago as well.

Speaking of extreme Islamists…

A bunch of pro-government Islamist organizations released a joint statement demanding festivals and concerts to be banned altogether, citing that they encourage and allow immoral behavior, unethical relations, alcohol consumption, drug use, and rebellious behavior. It called for all sorts of events to be gender-segregated and for the government to ban alcohol.

On an even sadder note…

On Saturday the 8th, Özkan Uğur, a well-known and loved musician and actor, died from lymphoma. He previously beat the disease three times, but it recurred for a fourth time. He was in critical condition, as he had recently been intubated. His loss upset millions of citizens.

Back to international relations…

On Sunday the 9th, the Greek Foreign Ministry released a statement condemning Turkish authorities for hosting an electric music party at a historical Greek Orthodox Church in the city of İzmir. The İzmir Municipality runs the venue and usually uses it to host cultural events. Upon Greece’s statement, the municipality publicly apologized to the Greek Orthodox community and stated that the event had nothing to do with them. It said that the municipality had rented the place to a private firm, and didn’t approve any alcohol sales at the event. However, the firm didn’t abide by the contract.

And to close this edition, the CEO of Turkish Airlines revealed that it’s working on a regulation that will allow a place for pilots to pray in the cockpit, and for passengers in the cabin.

In case you couldn’t listen to our previous update, we have two new shows! These are the Rorshok Multilateral Update, covering the world's major multilateral institutions, and the Ocean’s Update about 70% of Earth's surface covered in salt water.Intrigued? Listen to them in your podcast favorite app. You can also check out the rest of our Country Updates, to see what’s going on in the rest of the world!

That’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

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