Turkey’s Stability Before and After COVID 19
The economy of Turkey had been strong and healthy up until 2018, when the country entered an economic recession, due to currency and debt crisis. However, the ability of Turkey’s economy to recover quickly “is due to solid public finances, well-capitalized banks, and a dynamic and diversified private sector” (The Heritage Foundation, 2020). Turkey mainly is a free-market, and a diverse economy, a reality that is strongly influenced by its industrial and service divisions. Despite a past of political stability and resilience, a 2018 currency crisis brought about instability in politics, as well as substantial pressure on the country as a whole (The Heritage Foundation, 2020). Overall, Turkey’s financial and political systems are shifting towards a reality of clear and effective communication and competitiveness.
Turkey was hit by the reality of the Covid-19 pandemic relatively late compared to the rest of the world, on March 11, but this hit was quick to expand to the entire country, surpassing the United Kingdom and even China. The country fits into the group of countries that were quick to effectively respond to and handle the virus, through testing, tracing, and movement restrictions, as stated by Dr. Jeremy Rossman, Lecturer in Virology at the University of Kent (BBC,2020). The city of Istanbul was the epicenter of the pandemic in the Turkish region, with a total lockdown of the oldest and youngest populations, limited transportation, and curfews.
Medical professionals in the country seemed to be very well prepared to tackle the virus ever since day one. They remained on alert, and worked countless hours at hospitals, in order to prevent a terrible spread. Turkey also seems to have adopted and used the hydroxychloroquine medication early on, which in combination with quick testing results, has been largely successful in virus management (BBC,2020).
Overall, Turkey has made some mistakes as a country, with leaving country borders open for too long. At the same time, however, the country’s advantages during this pandemic have been the largely young population, as well as a large number of available ICU beds (BBC,2020). At the beginning of it all, there were close to 3,500 positive cases on a daily basis, but now, after careful management, the daily cases have officially dropped to about 1,000 positive cases, and it is up to the Government, city, and country officials, as well as the public, to work together, and follow the health guidelines, in hopes of complete recovery.
Page Author: Fani Tzikas
