🇹🇷 Turkey

Turkey is a transcontinental power of 85 million people with a $1.1 trillion GDP, straddling Europe and Asia. Istanbul, with 16 million people, is the only city in the world on two continents. The country is a NATO member, an EU candidate (since 1999, with no progress), and an increasingly assertive regional power under President Erdoğan, who's been in power since 2003. Turkey is the world's largest producer of hazelnuts (70% of global supply), figs, and apricots. The country's defense industry has grown dramatically — Bayraktar drones became famous in the Ukraine war. Turkey has the world's sixth-largest tourism industry, with over 50 million visitors annually.

Automotive, textiles, electronics, steel, and agriculture drive exports worth about $260 billion annually. Germany, the UK, Iraq, and the US are the top trade partners. Turkey's economy has been on a wild ride — unorthodox monetary policy (cutting interest rates to fight inflation) sent inflation above 85% in 2022 and crashed the lira, which has lost about 80% of its value against the dollar since 2018. A policy reversal in 2023 brought rates to 50%, and inflation is slowly declining. The country has a large and young workforce, a diversified manufacturing base, and a strategic location — but policy unpredictability scares investors.

Turkey's Göbekli Tepe is the world's oldest known temple complex — built around 9500 BC, it predates Stonehenge by 6,000 years and rewrote the history of civilization. The country has more ancient Greek ruins than Greece. Turkey's annual oil wrestling festival in Edirne (Kırkpınar) has been held continuously since 1362, making it the world's oldest sporting competition. Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, with over 4,000 shops, is one of the world's oldest and largest covered markets.

Turkey has the demographics, location, and industrial base to be a top-15 economy, but Erdoğan's economic experiments have been costly. The return to orthodox monetary policy is encouraging, but investor confidence takes years to rebuild.