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Erdogan's woes

November 09, 2020
Balance of Power
Bloomberg

A presidential son-in-law has thrown in the towel.

Berat Albayrak has stepped down as Turkey's finance minister, capping a wild weekend that saw President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fire the central bank governor who had presided over a run on the currency.

Albayrak, who is married to Erdogan's daughter, cited health reasons, but it came after the president installed a critic of his economic management as new central bank chief.

As economic czar, Albayrak's term was characterized by mostly futile efforts to control the lira without raising interest rates, in line with Erdogan's widely discredited view that higher rates spur inflation.

The turmoil at home comes as Erdogan girds for a tougher time with the U.S. under Joe Biden's administration. Donald Trump helped deflect congressional pressure for sanctions on Turkey for its purchase of a Russian-made missile defense system and for an elaborate sanctions-busting scheme with Iran.

Turkey's offensive last year against U.S.-backed Syrian Kurds, who fought on the front lines of the war against Islamic State, was endorsed by Trump even as it caused outrage in Congress.

Albayrak was known to be close to Jared Kushner, another presidential son-in-law on the way out of his job. That relationship is probably now less useful to Erdogan.

"Turkey is the real problem here," Biden said last year. "I know what it takes to negotiate with Erdogan. And if I were president, I would make him pay a heavy price for what he has done."

Erdogan seems acutely aware of the shifting mood. Other strongmen leaders may be similarly put on alert. — Benjamin Harvey

Trump and Erdogan at a White House press conference on Nov. 13, 2019. 

Photographer: Alex Edelman/Bloomberg

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Election Headlines

Transition in motion | Biden is moving ahead with plans to address the coronavirus pandemic and shape his incoming administration, steps aimed at strengthening his claim on the White House even as Trump continues to dispute the election results. Biden is largely ignoring Trump's efforts to undermine his victory, launching his transition team and moving toward appointments for White House staff jobs.

  • But as Gregory Korte and Josh Wingrove report, the jubilation of Biden supporters glosses over the challenges of a divided and embittered electorate.
  • An early dilemma facing Biden is how to deal with the pressure from some Democrats to have the Justice Department investigate and potentially prosecute Trump.

Other developments

Don't miss the biggest election headlines as they happen. Download Bloomberg's app for Android or for iOS and turn on push notifications.

Global Headlines

Staying frosty | Unlike Trump, whom Chinese officials had little knowledge of before he took office, Biden is well known in Beijing. But, as Peter Martin and Jenny Leonard explain, that history is unlikely to quickly repair ties: On the campaign trail, Biden blasted Beijing for its actions in Hong Kong, dubbed its policies toward Muslim minorities "unconscionable" and called the Chinese president a "thug."

  • Here's what analysts say the incoming administration may mean for China's economy.
  • Some world leaders have yet to congratulate Biden. Read how they may be among his biggest diplomatic headaches.

Pivotal week | Boris Johnson's leadership is in the balance this week as he seeks to finally deliver a trade deal with the European Union. Failing that, Stuart Biggs reports, the British prime minister risks a chaotic and economically damaging rupture, as well as a rift with Biden over the U.K.'s controversial Brexit laws.

Pedestrians pass an advertisement at a bus stop in London. 

Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

Reaching out | Germany is pushing to rekindle the transatlantic relationship after Trump's defeat, with moves to delay EU tariffs on $4 billion of American products. The bloc's heavyweight is due to raise the matter at a meeting of EU ministers today, when Berlin will advocate against escalating a trade conflict with the U.S. over subsidies provided to Boeing and Airbus, Birgit Jennen and Bryce Baschuk report.

Covid cash | President Jair Bolsonaro's disdain for virus restrictions helped make Brazil one of the world's worst Covid-19 hotspots. As Simone Iglesias and Samy Adghirni explain, with more businesses staying open —and Bolsonaro's cash handouts to informal workers bolstering his popularity and that of his allies — Sunday's municipal elections are becoming a referendum on the first half of his four-year term.

What to Watch This Week

  • The failure by the Democrats to secure a U.S. Senate majority has heightened the importance of tomorrow's Supreme Court showdown over the Affordable Care Act, increasing the chances the court will get the final word on a law that provides health insurance to 20 million Americans.
  • Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed replaced his military chief and reshuffled his security leadership as the death toll mounted from clashes with security forces in the restive northern region of Tigray.
  • Myanmar has started counting millions of votes from the second election since military rule ended in 2011, with de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy expected to win another term.

  • EU governments are considering a coordinated crackdown on Islamist radicalization, according to a draft statement that has been prepared for a meeting Friday of home affairs ministers.

  • Hong Kong's pro-democracy politicians will quit en masse if Beijing moves to disqualify any individual members of parliament, opposition lawmaker Fernando Cheung said after a report that China was expected to consider disqualifying four opposition members.

Thanks to all who responded to our pop quiz Friday and congratulations to Frank Aguilera, who was the first to correctly name George H. W. Bush as the last U.S. president to enter office without control of both the House and Senate.

And finally ... Biden unveiled a coronavirus task force in a bid to develop a dramatically different approach to the pandemic than Trump. The announcement of the 13-member group came as U.S. cases topped 100,000 for the fourth straight day and the total surpassed 50 million worldwide. The team will be led by former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, ex-Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler, and Marcella Nunez-Smith, a professor of public health at Yale University.

Medical staff treat a Covid-19 patient in Houston.

Photographer: Go Nakamura/Getty Images North America

 
 

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