![A general view shows the audience before a speech of Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci in Cologne, Germany, March 5, 2017. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay - RTS11JXA](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/06/RTS11JXA.jpg/RTS11JXA.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=npaQu_Jh)
Mustafa Sonmez is a Turkish economist and writer. He has worked as an economic commentator and editor for more than 30 years and authored some 30 books on the Turkish economy, media and the Kurdish question. On Twitter: @mustfsnmz
![A general view shows the audience before a speech of Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci in Cologne, Germany, March 5, 2017. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay - RTS11JXA](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/06/RTS11JXA.jpg/RTS11JXA.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=npaQu_Jh)
![The pictures of Qatarís Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani (L) and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan are seen on a car during a demonstration in support of him in Doha, Qatar June 11, 2017. REUTERS/Naseem Zeitoon - RTS16KYO](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/06/RTS16KYO.jpg/RTS16KYO.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=YP-arlde)
![Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) meets with U.S President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S. May 16, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RTX363HP](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/06/RTX363HP.jpg/RTX363HP.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=yGfIUXvN)
![Qatari Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani (2ndL) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L), walk past a guard of honor during an official welcoming ceremony prior to their meeting at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, on December 19, 2014. AFP PHOTO / ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/05/GettyImages-460670736.jpg/GettyImages-460670736.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=hw6Il8Rx)
![Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accompanied by his wife Emine, and Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, waves to supporters during the congress of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara, Turkey, May 21, 2017. REUTERS/Burhan Ozbilici/Pool - RTX36SZA](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/05/RTX36SZA.jpg/RTX36SZA.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=SBflAvWW)
![A money changer counts Turkish lira bills at a currency exchange office in Istanbul January 24, 2014. A global flight from emerging market assets gathered pace on Friday, sending the Turkish lira to a record low and setting global shares on course for their worst week this year. European shares fell, especially in firms exposed to emerging markets, and a sell-off on Wall Street was poised to extend into a second day as investors worried about the impact of slower growth in China, U.S. monetary policy and po](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/04/RTX17SKZ.jpg/RTX17SKZ.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=XevEq1qn)
![Merchants chat in front of a currency exchange office at the historical Grand Bazaar, known as the Covered Bazaar, in Istanbul, Turkey, January 12, 2017. Picture taken January 12, 2017. To match Insight TURKEY-ECONOMY/LIRA-RETAIL REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTSWSW7](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/04/RTSWSW7.jpg/RTSWSW7.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=TVbfOxwO)
![A money changer counts Turkish lira bills at an currency exchange office in central Istanbul, Turkey, August 21, 2015. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo - RTSKTP9](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/04/RTSKTP9.jpg/RTSKTP9.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=hpmI2XUa)
![Red and white balloons are released during the opening ceremony of newly built Yavuz Sultan Selim bridge, the third bridge over the Bosphorus linking the city's European and Asian sides in Istanbul, Turkey, August 26, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTX2N6ZG](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/03/RTX2N6ZG.jpg/RTX2N6ZG.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=buBUuTEA)
![Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, March 10, 2017. REUTERS/Zemlianichenko/Pool - RTS12A4O](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/03/RTS12A4O.jpg/RTS12A4O.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=39WfUbw_)
![Boards showing the currency exchange rates of the U.S. dollar and the Euro against Turkish lira are on display at a currency exchange office in Istanbul, Turkey, January 11, 2017. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTX2YFYR](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/03/RTX2YFYR.jpg/RTX2YFYR.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=B8zgvkaI)
![The sun rises behind the Bosphorus Bridge (L) and the construction site of the new Camlica Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, February 3, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTX257J9](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/03/RTX257J9.jpg/RTX257J9.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=UxF3VhlE)
Mustafa Sonmez is a Turkish economist and writer. He has worked as an economic commentator and editor for more than 30 years and authored some 30 books on the Turkish economy, media and the Kurdish question. On Twitter: @mustfsnmz