Erdogan sanctions researchers for publishing economic data showing deterioration

After the collapse of the Turkish economy, which recorded record losses, the most prominent of which was the sharp and historic decline in the exchange rate of the lira, in addition to the record rise in inflation and unemployment rates, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seeks to deceive the world with misleading government statements, with the prohibition of publishing any data other than those issued by the government or speaking in a negative way about the collapsed economy.

Erdogan is also rushing to improve his image ahead of next year’s presidential election, amid speculation that Erdogan’s popularity will collapse, his loss of power due to economic collapses, and the government’s failure to deal with crises.

Turkish law

Informed sources revealed that Turkish economic researchers could face up to three years in prison if they publish unofficial data on economic indicators without first seeking approval from the country’s statistical agency.

Two ruling party officials said: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) planned to present the proposed legislation to parliament this week but was delayed as officials worked on it further.

According to Bloomberg, a US agency that has seen the draft law, such legislation is intended to prohibit negative talk about the Turkish economy.

Economic collapse

Informed Turkish sources confirmed that Turkey’s economy was tested by the previous devaluation of the lira, which led to high inflation rates.

The rapid rise in prices is a source of concern for the Erdogan administration just over a year before the elections, the sources said.

The Turkish Statistical Institute had earlier filed a criminal complaint against ENAGroup, an independent inflation researcher, accusing it of “intentionally slandering” the institution and misleading public opinion.

ENAGroup announced an annual inflation rate of 142.63% in March, more than double the official figure of 61.14% for the same month.

Project of law

According to Bloomberg, the bill would prevent researchers from publishing data on any platform without the approval of the statistics agency, which will have two months to evaluate the methodology, and those found guilty of breaking the law could face between 1 and 3 years in prison.

According to the draft, “some manipulative statistics presented to the public under the name of scientific study without a clear methodology are aimed at both the Turkish Statistical Institute and the confidence in economic indicators”.

The original bill also provides for a ban on broadcasting to sites that publish unapproved statistics.