The Economist - USA (2021-07-10)

The Economist July 10th 2021 Europe 49

of getting vaccinated.
The government,meanwhile,hadother
priorities,suchasjailingAlexeiNavalny,
the most prominentoppositionfigure,and
crushing streetprotests.Thisiswhereso­
cial­distancingrulescameinhandy.Mr
Navalny’s associateswereputunderhouse
arrest for “urgingthepublictoviolateepi­
demiological restrictions”. At the same
time  Mr  Putinpacked80,000peopleinto
the LuzhnikistadiuminMoscowfora cer­
emony to marktheseventhanniversaryof
the annexationofCrimea.
Many Russiansconcludedthattherules
were merelya governmentploy,tobeevad­
ed  like  so  manyofitsprescriptions.They
took  a  similarly dismissive view ofthe
Sputnik  Vvaccineafter itslaunch,with
much fanfare,inearlyDecember.
SputnikV wasauthorisedbeforethere­
sults of itsphase­3clinicaltrialswererea­
dy.  Once  thesewerepublished,questions
were  raised aboutsome inconsistencies
and  data  availability,saysBorisReizis,a
professor ofimmunologyatNewYorkUni­
versity’s  Grossman School of Medicine.
Still, he says,thedatasuggestthatSputnik
V  is  at  leastassafeandeffectiveasother
adenovirus­basedvaccines,suchasthose
made by AstraZenecaandJohnson&John­
son. But thedamagehadbeendone.
To  be  sure,confidence invaccinesis
fragile  everywhere.ButinRussianobody
has  done  moretounderminesuchconfi­
dence thantheKremlinanditsloyal,con­
spiracy­peddlingmedia.MrPutinhashi­
jacked SputnikV forthepurposeofgeopo­
litical  point­scoring.Yetheditheredwith
his own vaccinationuntiltheendofMarch
and  refusedtobephotographedbeingin­
jected, despitehisusualpenchantforbare­
chested  publicitystunts.Hehasalsosug­
gested  thatvaccinesfromothercountries
are unsafe.
That hasdonelittletoreassurethema­
ny Russianswhoexpecttheirgovernment
to  lie  to  them.Theyhavegoodreason:it
turns out thatsomepeoplewhoweretold
they  weregettingSputnikVwereinfact
given EpiVacCorona,anotherRussianvac­
cine praisedbyMrPutin,butaboutwhich
there  are serious concerns. Hardly any
countries haveapprovedit.
Failingtowintrust,Russianauthorities
are resortingtosticksandcarrots.InMos­
cow,  restaurantsandcafésareallowedto
serve peopleindoorsonlyiftheyhaveaqr
code  provingtheyhavebeenvaccinated.
Hospitals refuseroutinetreatmenttoany­
one  withoutajab.Public­sectorandser­
vice workershavebeenorderedtogetvac­
cinated. Butalthoughmorepeoplearenow
signing upforjabs,thereisa side­effect:a
thriving blackmarketforfakevaccination
certificates,qrcodesandmedicalexemp­
tions. Noneofthisbodeswellforhospitals
across the country,asthenumberscontin­
ue to mount.n

Turkey

Scandalsgalore

F

ora moment, Turkey’sPresidentRecep

TayyipErdoganhadreasontohopethat

thestormunleashedbySedatPeker,anex­

iledmobsterwitha YouTubeaccountand

anaxetogrindwithMrErdogan’sgovern­

ment,wouldblowover.MrPeker,whohas

takentosocialmediatoslingaccusations

ofcorruption,drug­andarms­trafficking,

andmurderatseniormembersoftherul­

ing JusticeandDevelopment (ak) party,

announced onJune20th thathewould

temporarily stop uploading new videos.

Themobleader,whoisthoughttobeliving

intheUnitedArabEmirates,claimedlocal

authoritieshadwarnedhimheriskedbe­

ingassassinated.

MrErdogan’sreliefwasshort­lived.On­

lya dayafterMrPeker’srevelation,Ameri­

ca’sDepartmentofJusticeannouncedthat

policeinAustria hadarrestedaTurkish

businessman,SezginBaranKorkmaz,who

featuredinsomeofthevideos.Thedepart­

mentaccusesMrKorkmazoflaundering

morethan$133mofproceedsfroma fraud

schemethroughaccounts inTurkeyand

Luxembourg.Thebusinessmanisalleged

tohaveteamedupwithtwomembersofa

polygamistsectbasedinUtahanda fuel­

companyownertodefraudAmerica’strea­

suryofhundredsofmillionsofdollarsby

filingfalseclaimsforrenewablefuel­tax

credits.MrKorkmazandcompanyalleged­

lyspentthemoneyonanairline,hotelsin

TurkeyandSwitzerland,seafrontproperty

inIstanbul,andayacht 46 metreslong.

Theyalsotriedtocultivatea relationship

with Mr Erdogan. Jacob Kingston, who

pleadedguiltyto hispartinthescheme

two years ago, was once photographed

withtheTurkishpresidentatan“Investin

Turkey”event.

MrKorkmaz,whodeniesanywrong­

doing, may now have some interesting

conversations with American investiga­

tors. MrPeker claimsthatMr Korkmaz,

whoisalsounderinvestigationinTurkey,

slippedout ofthecountrylatelastyear

thankstoa tip­offbytheinteriorminister.

Themobsterhasalsoleakedthenamesofa

numberofgovernmentheavyweights,in­

cludingMrErdogan’slastprimeminister

andtheheadofTurkey’sdefence­procure­

ment agency, as well as judges, police

chiefs and pro­government journalists,

whohesaysstayedatMrKorkmaz’sfancy

hotel,mostlyfreeofcharge.

Thechancesofanofficialinquiryinto

MrPeker’sclaimsareslim.ButMrErdogan

hasbeenunabletotakethestingoutofthe

scandal.aksupporterswhostomachedev­

idenceofcorruptionwhentheeconomy

boomedarelessforgivingtoday,assurging

pricesandacollapsing currencydevour

theirearnings.Theinflationrateshotupto

17.5% in June, the highest level in two

years. The lira has dipped to new lows

againstthedollar(seechart),mostrecently

afterMrErdogansaidhehadaskedthecen­

tralbankto begincuttinginterestrates.

TheWorldBanksuggeststhattheeconom­

iccrisis,compoundedbythecovid­19pan­

demic,pushedasmanyas1.6mTurksinto

povertylastyearalone.

For the first time in years, Turkey’s

presidentappearsvulnerable.Supportfor

hisakpartyhassunkto26%,thelowest

sinceitslaunchtwodecadesago,accord­

ingtoa pollbyTurkiyeRaporu,a research

group.Ifa presidentialelectionwereheld

today,MrErdoganwouldlosetoanyofthe

threemainpotentialcontenders,surveys

suggest.Electionsaresetfor2023.Fully

58%ofTurks,aswellasthemainopposi­

tionparties,wantthemsooner.

MrErdoganalsoseemstobelosinghis

touch.TheTurkishstrongmanrecentlyor­

deredstateinstitutionstoreininexpendi­

turesandsuspendpropertyandconstruc­

tionprojects.(Theofficeofthepresidency

was, of course, excluded.) Days later, a

handfulofnewspaperspublishedimages

ofa presidentialestatevaluedat640mlira

($74m),completewithaswimmingpool

anda beachshapedtoresembletheTurk­

ishcrescent,builtforMrErdoganonthe

country’sMediterraneancoast.Fora leader

whostillproclaimshimselfa manofthe

people,thisishardlya goodlook.n

RecepTayyipErdogan’simageandTurkey’seconomyaretakinga battering

Erdogan’s legacy

Turkish lira per $, inverted scale

Source: Refinitiv Datastream

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