Dünya X’ten Büyüktür
Like most things in life, Turkey recap is best enjoyed with pistachios.
Don’t have any? Try reading to the soothing sounds of these mechanical wax figures hammering pistachios at the pistachio-shaped pistachio museum in Gaziantep.
Next best option: the sounds of the peanut-shaped peanut museum in Osmaniye.
In today’s recap we:
Deliver an Erdoğan NYC wrap
Weigh Özgür Özel for the CHP leadership fight
Cover back-to-school challenges in Hatay
Review foreign affairs, from Europe to Iraq
Scale up today’s interest rate decision
And prep for winter sos-tice
Also don’t miss: Wouter Massink’s report on Russian residence permit woes in Turkey and Diego Cupolo’s deep dive on the future of EU-Turkey relations.
Think about it. Your father is the wealthiest person in the world, he names you "X" and takes you to a world leader meeting on the assumption a family guy image might help him for the occasion.
That's what happened to Lil X, Elon Musk's 3-year-old son, this Sunday when his father met with Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ahead of the UN General Assembly in New York.
"Hışt, X, X," Erdoğan said while trying to get little X's attention. Then the Turkish leader asked: "Where is your wife?”
"We are separated now," Musk answered. "That's why I take care of my son mostly."
Besides having an awkward family moment, the two mainly talked about the possibility of Tesla opening its seventh factory in Turkey as well as getting the necessary license for Starlink satellite services in the country.
"Musk noted that numerous Turkish supplier firms are currently collaborating with Tesla and that Türkiye is one of the leading candidates for the next factory," according to a statement from the Directorate of Communications on the meeting.
A few days later, Dep. Min. of Transportation and Infrastructure Fatih Sayan said the ministry would consider the Starlink issue with other telecommunication actors in Turkey during a meeting on Sep. 25.
“I give Musk opening a factory in Turkey zero chance,” economist Barış Soydan told Turkey recap. “He probably has other business plans for his satellites. The market for Tesla cars in Turkey is not big enough, and the country is not competitive in terms of production costs.”
Soydan defined the meeting as “Erdoğan’s PR campaign to create an illusion that foreign investors are interested in Turkey.”
“I’m sure Erdoğan had wanted to meet with other business people, too. But distrust for the Turkish economy is high. No direct investment or hot money is coming,” Soydan added.
During the trip, Erdoğan had several meetings with world leaders like Greece's Mitsotakis, Italy's Meloni, and Israel's Netanyahu, and left us with a highlight reel of current foreign policy stances in the form of this PBS interview.
On camera, the president defined Sweden's NATO bid, Turkey-EU relations and Ankara's wish to purchase F-16 warplanes and upgrade kits from the US as "separate and unrelated things" and noted the Turkish parliament – where his alliance holds the majority – was the decision-maker.
While refusing to set a schedule for NATO ratification, Erdoğan also defined Russia as one of his closest neighbors and said Turkey was not obliged to follow every decision taken by others on sanctions.
When asked if he trusts Russian Pres. Putin, Erdoğan replied: "I have no reason not to trust [him].”
“To the extent the West is reliable, Russia is equally reliable. For the last 50 years, we have been waiting at the doorstep of the EU, and, at this moment in time, I trust Russia just as much as I trust the West."
The president also didn't show preference between the US and Russia.
"[It] is all about establishing contacts with the nations around the world based on a win-win scenario," Erdoğan said. "Just as I have good relations with the US, similarly, I will have good relations with Russia. I will continue to have a relationship with the EU member states based on the same approach as well, win-win."
In the end, The world is bigger than five – or Dünya beşten büyüktür, as Erdoğan often reminds us – and it’s definitely bigger than X.
– Gonca Tokyol
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