voice s of re sistance from o ccupied lon d on
both while also offering its own adjustment policies. But today is flavor to these new currents of distinct both from that period and from current IMF-imposed austerity popular resistance. regimes, such as in Greece. What we are experiencing in Turkey today on crisis are debt incurring measures to keep Although the uprising is not the crisis at bay and implemented as immediately linked to austerity, an economic growth strategy. The it is still deeply related to the country has attracted foreign capital financial crisis of 2008. Initially due to its balanced national budget, the crisis did hit Turkey but the which wards off any fear of extreme strategy of the government was to inflation. This budget is balanced contain it by massive privatization in roughly the following way: as of land for real estate projects and opposed to implementing austerity, urban renewal, and through this, the country’s national expenses to redefine Istanbul as an AKP- are being kept mostly constant but constructed modern metropolis. with a shifting emphasis towards The massive increase in large- infrastructural spending for scale construction projects was development projects that benefit tied to an equally large increase the bourgeoisie, especially those in in foreign debt. Capital influx was construction and its related sectors. also bolstered since Turkey became National revenue is produced via a much more lucrative market for privatization (the enclosure of land speculators after the FED slashed for the aforementioned development its interest rate following the 2008 projects), indirect regressive taxes collapse. This situation has resulted (which also have a conservative in Turkey currently having about character such as increased sales tax $340 billion in external debt (43% of for alcohol) and foreign debt. This its national income, 2/3 held by the debt is paid off (notably that held private industry). This liquid capital by the private sector) by borrowing strengthened the Turkish Lira even more money (readily available against the dollar, while financing thanks to the growth rate) leading Erdogan’s multiple urban renewal to the large sums owed today, a and development projects. significant portion of which is Privatization and debt is earmarked to be paid off by the ingrained into the Turkish economy spring of 2014. Debt is incurred in and have been its hallmarks since order to keep the budget afloat and the 80s and 90s when the country provides a corollary for enclosure was one of the primary targets of (privatization) rather than the state IMF and World Bank structural being forced to privatize in order to 12