Finian Cunningham: Devastating Economic Consequences of Syrian Crisis!!

New economic figures just now out show that Turkey's erstwhile rising star as a powerful emerging economy has suddenly taken a plunge: Second quarter economic data show that the country's halcyon days of stellar growth of more than 8% during 2010 and 2011 are over. While this years 2.9% growth still looks robust compared with stagnant North America and Europe, nevertheless the abrupt fall by 50 percent from previous heights serves as a stark warning that Turkey is heading for tough economic times, and parsing the headline figures, there are signs of much deeper malaise for the Turkish economic outlook. The Financial Times this week notes that the economic news for the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan would have been a lot worse, only for a recent surge in exports to Iran. The FT reports that 60 percent of the increase in Turkey's exports during the first seven months of the year was due to soaring gold sales to Iran. Demand for gold in Iran is largely due to the tighter Western economic sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic this year, which are driving Iranians to seek financial security by buying tangible assets of the precious metal. Thw worrying news for Turkey's government is that the Iranian export surge is likely to be a one off boost. There is only so much gold that Iranian households can buy, thereby giving a limited lifeline to Turkey to fend off an even more precipitous decline in the latter's economy. In recent years, Turkey has been seen as something of an international showcase for economic development, garnering glowing reviews in the business media for its growth in the key industries of agriculture, textiles, manufacture of cars and consumer appliances, and a heavyweight ship building industry. Turkey is now ranked fourth in the world for ship building behind China, South Korea and Japan. Such has been the country's rapid growth that some commentators had begun to class Turkey as a developed economy rather than an emerging one!