I HAD a chance to visit Turkey recently and observe firsthand the country’s politics, economy, society and culture. I, as part of a delegate of nine Malaysians, was invited and sponsored by Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Turkish Embassy in Malaysia and Turkish Airlines to visit several places in the country, particularly Istanbul and several areas in the southeast area, from June 17 to June 23, 2019.

My first impression of Turkey is that it is a colourful and beautiful country with friendly people who were always excited whenever I mentioned that I was from Malaysia. Clearly, they know about Malaysia very well, as a Muslim country like Turkey.

I had the opportunity to visit many historical sites and museums like the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. When travelling to southeast of Turkey, I visited, among others, the Citadel and Diyarbakir Walls with a view of Hevsel Gardens Cultural Landscape (Unesco World Heritage Site – second largest city walls in the world after the Great Wall of China), the Gobekli Tepe (the oldest temple in the world, Unesco World Heritage Site), the legendary pool of the sacred fish in Sanliurfa, Mount Nemrut, Zeugma Mosaic Museum, and many more beautiful places. Without doubt, Turkey is renowned as a country with a long history and tradition, and also rich in culture from old civilisations.

The highlight of my visit was not simply an activity of sightseeing and leisure. I learnt a lot about Turkey especially about the people in urban and rural areas, their agricultural sector, tourism, politics and economy. This led me to believe that Turkey has full potential in which both Malaysia and Turkey can further explore, more than before.

Turkey’s current population is estimated roughly at 83.43 million people. Half of the population are aged below 32 years old. More than 40% of the population is in the category of middle-class group.

However, the unemployment rate according to Turkish Statistical Institute is around 10%. This is quite high due to the financial and economic crisis that happened in Turkey in 2018 which affected the Turkish lira currency. Turkish lira had dropped significantly to 7.23 per US dollar in August 2018 after Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Turkey’s steel products and several of its ministers for the detention of a US pastor on terrorism charges.

However, since then, Turkish lira has climbed back to 5.77 per US dollar on June 24, 2019, right after Ekrem Imamoglu, from the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), won the second Istanbul’s mayoral election, after the first Istanbul on March 31, 2019 was cancelled, defeating former prime minister Binali Yildirim from Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Clearly, the financial and economic crisis have an effect on Turkish politics and in reducing support towards the AKP led by Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan. I was there in Istanbul watching the campaigning period in Taksim Square and TV channels.

The result, in my view, shows that Turkish democracy is slightly controversial but alive and fresh. It also shows that the middle class is in control of Turkish politics, the same group of people that will ensure revolution and military coup are things in the past because it would never happen in Turkey anymore, at least in the near future. The main concern of Turkish citizens is their livelihood and economic prosperity.

For Malaysia, Turkey has a strong potential that the Malaysian government, agencies and private companies can explore in Turkey and vice versa. According to Malaysia’s International Trade and Industries Ministry, Malaysia’s trade with Turkey amounted to RM12.06 billion, while export and import accounted for RM10.51 billion and RM1.55 billion, respectively. Malaysian companies have taken advantage of the free-trade agreement in 2016. Among the main items traded from Malaysia to Turkey are palm oil, raw aluminium and electronic products, and solar energy.

However, the tourism industry is booming in Turkey, taking advantage of the lower rate of the lira. Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy announced recently an unveiled new tourism package to host millions of tourists with a high spending power to meet its 2023 vision for tourism sector targeting “70 million tourist with US$70 billion revenue” programme for 2023. This will boost Turkey’s economy and will end the “season” concept in tourism.

Turkey is also targeting 500,000 tourists from China to visit the country by 2020. Ibrahim Halil Kalay, board member of the Tourism Ministry and Association of Turkish Travel Agencies, told the TRT World that Turkey had hosted almost 40 million tourists in 2018, an increase of 22% compared to 2017. However, Turkey has enough capacity to host 100 million tourists in 2019.

Medical tourism is also popular in Turkey. The country’s Medical Tourism Magazine estimates that the cost of receiving quality healthcare in Turkey is 50% to 65% lower than in the US. In 2017, according to the Turkish Healthcare Travel Council, Turkey provided healthcare for 765,000 patients from 144 different countries. Turkish Airlines even offers flight rates at discounted prices to medical travellers.

Turkey stands out as the country with the largest youth population in Europe. This translates into a larger availability of skilled labour force with an industrious working culture and cost-competitive edge – yet another reason to invest in Turkey.

Automotive is the biggest industry with a total export of US$26.8 billion in 2018. The economic growth in the last decade has paved the way for the emergence of a sizable middle class with increasing purchasing power. Turkey can become a hub for Malaysian industries and products to enter into African and Middle Eastern markets, not to mention Eastern Europe and Russia.

New Istanbul Airport and other infrastructure investments such as the Marmaray, Osmangazi Bridge, Eurasia Tunnel and Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge will strengthen Turkey’s central position as a global hub.

Today, according to China Daily, more than 1,000 Chinese companies are doing business in Turkey, including the Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Investment Corp, China Merchants Group, shipping group COSCO and telecommunication giants Huawei and ZTE under the Belt and Road Initiative. 

Companies such as Nestle, Siemens, and Deutsche Bank have been operating in Turkey for more than 100 years. Beside these, education, medical and defence industries are also growing in Turkey which similar sectors in Malaysia can collaborate with and have joint ventures.

It is obvious that Turkey has huge potential to grow and Malaysia can benefit from it through strategic partnership with the Turkish counterparts. – June 27, 2019.

* Prof Dr Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani is a professor of politics and international relations at Universiti Utara Malaysia.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.