The reason for this is that 10 years ago Turkey was much richer, more appreciated and respected globally as an emerging power is expected to be, but also Turkey had visions. Turkey at that time gave the impression as being the emerging democratic power in a world where economic and political freedom went hand in hand. Turkey was taken much more serious at that time, because Turkey did not want any foreign aid, only trade. Turkey gave hope not only to its own citizens but also to the entire Turkic, as well as the Islamic world. This message was conveyed to Europe and to the whole Western world that Turkey was a model for Islam and democracy before long the discussion began whether Islamic societies could become democratized and enjoy all political freedoms. Turkey was not ‘’a democracy without democrats,’ but in the true sense a democracy which helped the ‘transition countries’ of the former Soviet era that this change can be realized.

Economic prosperity was also another factor why Turkish people looked to the future with great optimism. Those years were years of ‘’social and economic take off’ in which all the advantages of modern technology entered the country and the Turkish people became one of the respected families in global villages. The dreams and hopes of Turks were reaching the sky, and this became a reality when Turkey joined with 16 other states, which were categorized as ‘’sky sharing countries’ with their satellites, to make the world smaller. Turks reached levels of global standards through the performance of writers like Orhan Pamuk to international soccer players like Hakan Şükür, and international trainers like Fatih Terim, who created a self-confidence in the Turkish people with a ‘’we can do it too’ feeling. Turks traveled to many countries and became ‘Anatolian Marco Polos’ and reached global standards by hosting more than 10 million tourists every year with increasing tendencies. If anyone would read the ‘80s in particular and the early ‘90s, he could come to the conclusion that indeed the new millennium was the millennium of the Turks, as then President Turgut Özal heralded in the early ‘90s. Many academics, who researched and exchanged knowledge with their contemporaries, were more than self-confident when they saw that their income increasing and academic productivity reached global standards. Turks were ‘early globalizers’ in this sense, and energy consumption by Turks from cities to villages peaked, and the World Bank praised Turkey and Turkey was taken up in the list of ‘’would be reach countries’ with all its resources ranging from human capital to economic capital. Turkey became a ‘’donor country’ for many countries in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and international credit institutions saw in Turkey as a ‘’perfect working student with high grades like AA or BA,’ and national and international capital came to view Turkey as a ‘safe country’ where you could invest. Anybody who collects and evaluates the statements by Sakıp Sabancı, the biggest entrepreneur in Turkey, on TV and in the press, can come to the real conclusion. It means a change from a positive to a pessimistic attitude!! Turkey’s permanent representative to NATO Ambassador Onur Öymen wrote a book entitled ‘’Turkey’s Power’ (Türkiye’nin Gücü) in the same mood of the ‘80s and early ‘90s.

Prime Minister Ecevit’s visit to Washington was not successful, because Turkey is undergoing the most serious crisis in its modern time, and because Turkey’s public knows very well that this visit will not bring any new economic vitality, but rather new encomic debts. Within this context, the Turkish people lost total confidence in the government and the state. Turkey is at the moment like a ship lost in the oceans of international relations and does not know where to land. Although the ship has its captain and its crew, but the passengers are skeptical that they could reach the safety of land. The external captain Kemal Derviş always interferes with the main captain’s orientation map, claiming that he has the right compass!! However, Turkey’s general mood, nearly one year later is even bleaker. To create artificial hope does not succeed, and Turkey is now twice poorer as last year, and there is no hope in sight. It is not a pessimistic statement but rather an observation from where to where the country has moved in the past few years. Among many circles in Turkey, there is a feeling of joke that the prime minister marked his visit 10 out of 10. He appears like a swimmer in a huge Olympic swimming pool where he becomes number one because there is no other swimmer except himself!! It is unfortunate that all the businessmen, who accompanied the prime minister there, were more than disappointed. Actually, their markings should be heard too.

Turkey’s foreign policy is also weak because Turkey is economically weak. During the donor conference in Tokyo, Turkey just offered a few million dollars for Afghanistan’s restructuring. Afghanistan’s interim minister does not have Turkey on the list of countries to be visited, but rather only rich countries. Gen. Dostum’s visit to Ankara was not more than a ‘’reunion visit with his family.’’

Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah also does not having any interest to visit Turkey. Foreign Minister İsmail Cem was recently visited by Turkish businessmen who have great construction experience in the Middle East and in Russia. In his foreign policy, he misses out on the ‘’economic dimension’ very much. Although he likes to speak always of the ‘’dimension of history’ in Turkish foreign policy, he is well advised also to take into consideration the economic dimension. Turkey needs it more. It is not an intellectual exercise but rather an urgent demand. As Thomas L. Friedman writes in his book ‘The Lexus and Olive Tree,’ politicians should not only sign treaties with great ceremonies but rather sign business contracts with foreign countries, if they want to serve their societies effectively. Indeed, Turkey needs such contracts more than ever. It seems that Turkey will not recover from its economic wounds quickly. Whether Turkey can become another Argentina is not so relevant at the moment. Then, Turkey is already ‘another Argentina’ with the only difference being that the Turkish people are more patient, and this is a unique political culture here. But this is a topic for sociologists and psychologists, not for an international relations expert. The fact, however, remains that there is little hope for economic recovery and the ‘all time problem’ Saddam Hussein. At the next elections, it will be seen what grade the Turkish people give to the government in their ‘journey to power.’ I am sure it will not be ‘10 out of 10!!!’