Turkey Demographics 2014


 State of south-western Asia and, to a small extent, of south-eastern Europe. The demographic data of Turkey highlight the passage to a new phase of the demographic transition, with fertility and mortality rates in sharp decline compared to the values ​​of the early 21st century. However, the population (75,837,020 residents, According to an estimate by UNDESA, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, of 2014) overall, although moderately increased (+ 1.12%) thanks to the increase in life expectancy (75.4 years for women and 71.3 for men). It also remains very young: 42.3% are under the age of 24, only 6.6% are over 65 (one third of the European average) and the median age, i.e. the age that divides a population in two. numerically equal parts, records that half of Turks are under the age of 29, making it the youngest country in all of Europe (in Italy, for comparison, the median age is about 43 years). However, the increase in population is today very far from the levels of the last decades of the twentieth century, when a country of less than 30 million residents (1961 census) became a demographic power of over 70 million. The fertility rate is, as for all developed countries, declining, as well as the juvenile addiction relationship. Overall, there is a greater weight of the active population than the dependent one.

However, the demographic analysis cannot fail to highlight the particularity of the Kurdish population of Turkey, whose fertility rates, double compared to the rest of the country’s population, have made it rise to 18.9% of the total. This differential, alone, highlights the marked structural contrast between the two ethnic groups, a symptom of two different demographic regimes and two different phases in the demographic transition process. Of course, the ethnic element alone cannot explain such different behaviors, to which the socio-economic backwardness of the regions inhabited by the Kurds contributes decisively. However, the argument remains indisputable that the demographic factor exercises already today, and presumably even more in the future, a conditioning on the balance of power between the two communities and, inevitably,

The GAP project. – In recent years, this ambitious and decades-long development project in the south-western regions of the Turkey has proceeded with the installation of the dams of Garzan (active since 2009, province of Batman) and Sırımtaş (since 2013, province of Adıyaman). As of May 2013, 8 out of 14 dams were completed in the Euphrates basin and 4 out of 8 in the Tigris basin. The Turkish government seems determined to go ahead with the project, but the buildings close to the borders with Syria and Iraq could suffer interruptions due to the strong insecurity in the area, which makes these works an easy target for military and terrorists. Among the works at risk are the Çetintepe and Cizre dams and, above all, that of Ilısu, on the border between the provinces of Mardin and Sirnak, one of the most technologically demanding constructions of the entire project, already at the center of controversies related to the possible damage caused to the archaeological site of Hasankeyf and the evacuation of 60,000 residents. Work began in 2006, but the controversy raised by many environmental and humanitarian organizations led the participating foreign companies to suspend their collaboration in the project.

Economic and financial policy. – Fiscal rigor and prudent monetary policy supported by an independent central institution activated, in the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, a virtuous circle of reduction in inflation, decline in interest rates and sustained economic growth fueled by pressures of the private sector. Appropriate structural reforms accompanied this period: in particular, in the banking sector, the recapitalization of banks and the strengthening of the supervisory system and, in general, the tax reform and privatization program that reactivated private credit, attracted capital from the abroad and promoted competitiveness. However, the depreciation of the Turkish lira in 2006 and some supply-side shocks reactivated price pressures. For Turkey public policy, please check paradisdachat.com.

However, due to the rapid deterioration of public finances, the government adopted restrictive measures in the second half of the year, such as increasing the excise duty on tobacco and petroleum products, with the aim of pursuing fiscal consolidation in the medium term.. In recent years, the expansionary monetary policy has been implemented with the reduction of interest rates and the injection of liquidity into the system. Due to the uncontrolled inflow of foreign capital and the appreciation of the exchange rate, the Turkish authorities introduced unconventional measures in 2010 to discourage the temporary inflow of capital and moderate credit growth. In 2011, the new government adopted a program aimed at safeguarding macroeconomic stability, promoting competitiveness, supporting productivity growth, encourage regional development and consolidate the institutional framework. In particular, the administration worked to reform commercial law in 2012, privatize the energy distribution network and expand the production of energy from renewable sources and nuclear power, and encourage investments in human and physical capital. To combat unemployment and promote the emergence of irregular work, the government has facilitated the use of part-time and fixed-term work, opposed informal work and promoted forms of worker participation in the company. During this period, public spending has increased faster than economic growth causing the deterioration of public finances.

Turkey financial policy

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