Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • May 2004 (Revised November 2005)
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Turkey: Securing Stability in a Rough Neighborhood

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Emily Thompson
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:25
ShareBar

Abstract

After suffering years of volatility and crises, Turkey desperately sought macroeconomic and political stability in an ever-worsening region of the world. In the short term, Turkey had to repay its debt, which amounted to more than 80% of GDP. By January 2004, Turkey had entered the final stages of the IMF's latest $17 billion loan program. Each review required that Turkey meet specific goals of monetary control (e.g., reducing inflation), restructuring the banking sector, reforming the public sector, and increasing privatization. The country's long-term goal, joining the European Union, would be reached only if the EU's required criteria were met. Elected in November 2002 and the first absolute majority in Parliament in 15 years, the AKP party promised to meet both IMF and EU requirements. Although his AKP party had Islamic roots, Prime Minister Erdogan planned to prove that Turkey was a stable, secular democracy. After Turkey met the EU's requirements, the question remained: Would the EU's "Christian club" accept a Muslim Turkey?

Keywords

Public Sector; Inflation and Deflation; Macroeconomics; Borrowing and Debt; Banks and Banking; International Finance; Privatization; Religion; Turkey; European Union

Citation

Vietor, Richard H.K., and Emily Thompson. "Turkey: Securing Stability in a Rough Neighborhood." Harvard Business School Case 704-045, May 2004. (Revised November 2005.)
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Author

Richard H.K. Vietor

Business, Government and the International Economy
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • October 2021
    • Faculty Research

    Deficits and Debt: The U.S. Current Account

    By: Laura Alfaro and Richard Vietor
    • September 2021
    • Faculty Research

    Italy - 'Whatever It Takes'

    By: Richard H.K. Vietor, Dante Roscini and Cecile Gambardella
    • May 2021 (Revised February 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    NuScale - Commercializing the first small modular reactor in the world

    By: Jurgen Weiss and Richard H.K. Vietor
More from the Authors
  • Deficits and Debt: The U.S. Current Account By: Laura Alfaro and Richard Vietor
  • Italy - 'Whatever It Takes' By: Richard H.K. Vietor, Dante Roscini and Cecile Gambardella
  • NuScale - Commercializing the first small modular reactor in the world By: Jurgen Weiss and Richard H.K. Vietor
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College