Global Ambassador's Journal Vol 3, Issue 2 June 2019

$ 27.5 billion to $ 93 billion by the end
of 2018.
As far as the economic freedoms are
concerned Turkey falls within the better
half of the 180 countries with a ranking
of 68th. In The World Bank’s Doing
Business 2019 report Turkey has leaped
17 points resulting in a ranking of 43rd
among 190 in total.
Thriving economically also purported
to an augmentation in a variety of fields
in the production line. One specific
area where many, among observers of
Turkey, were taken aback was its zeal
and exceeding success to build up a
homegrown defense industry inside out.
The motto introduced by the President
himself ‘indigenous and national’ put the
foundation for a burgeoning production
line during a period of a decade bringing
Turkish-made products in the sector to
75 % in total. The success in building
state of the art unmanned air and ground
vehicles that can compete with actors
who have long been in the scene sealed
the deal as far as proving its stature was
concerned. Moreover, Turkey joined the
group of the mere 4 capable nation-states
of producing fifth generation jet fighters
which included the United States, Russia
and China. In its defense endeavor, the
road to success came from Turkey’s
ability to alter what was originally a
challenge into –maybe- a blessing in
disguise namely, its dependency. This
became an incentive to be wielded as a
springboard in making strides. To be
more specific, Turkey exploited, in a good
way, the sense of being cornered which
was foisted upon by the international
counterparts who clearly stooped to
resort quite often to the carrot and the
stick model. In an attempt to turn things
around and break away from the vicious
circle of dependency, Turkey shifted
towards probing the untapped resources
within that can be brought to the front to
become self-reliant. In short, the Turkish
innovative technologies produced by
Turkish scientists, engineers, thinkers
concomitant with political will gave way
to the concept of self-sufficiency in the
defense industry and annexes thereof.
Turkey has also made noteworthy progress
in civilian sectors, such as healthcare and
medical services. In 2017, Turkey hosted
over 765.000 international patients from
144 countries which contributed with a
direct income of USD 7.2 billion to the
Turkish economy. Having become one
of the top 3 destinations in the world for
healthcare travel, Turkey invested no less
than USD 50 billion in new hospitals and
technology in the last 15 years. Turkey
also has more than 15000 US-graduate
doctors with expertise in various fields
including organ transplantations, stem
cell technology and cancer treatment.
In conclusion, despite of some grave
challenges over the years, threatening
its political sovereignty and economic
stability, among which was the recent
coup d’etat attempt that was carried
out by the cultish entity FETO, a terror
organization, resulting in the murder of
251 people and wounding of some 3000
civilians, Turkey developed a knack to
rise above the day to day difficulties, and
raised the standards of living to improve
the quality of life for all its inhabitants.
It stands out as a place of crossroads,
profound culture, deep history and
sundry opportunities to say the least.
30 Global Ambassador’s Journal | Vol. III, Issue 2, June 2019