Economic advance was a major pledge that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made in promoting Turkey’s transition to a super-presidency system, but his record after four years as executive president leaves little to celebrate. 

Erdogan was re-elected president on June 24, 2018 for a second term, armed with new, sweeping executive powers following a constitutional overhaul the previous year that weakened the parliament’s clout and concentrated power in the hands of the president. Four years on, his governance is widely criticized as a “one-man rule” that has eroded checks and balances, tightened control over the judiciary and imposed a firm grip on the Central Bank and other economic bodies.

In memorable remarks on the eve of the elections, Erdogan — a self-declared “enemy of interest rates” — had pledged to use the new presidential powers to streamline decision-making and remove snags holding back the Turkish economy. 

On the fourth anniversary of the elections, Turkey’s economic outlook is a far cry from what he had pledged, marred by currency shocks and runaway inflation with severe impoverishing effects on the masses. Erdogan’s poll numbers have been sagging, raising the prospect of his fall from power after two decades at the helm, perhaps in early elections before he completes his five-year term in June 2023.