Ul'chenko Nataliya, Uturgaury S.

Turgut Ozal – Prime-Minister and President of Turkey

Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Москва, 2009, 128 p.

From this book, the reader will learn about the main accomplishments of the life and work of Turgut Ozal. A new era of Turkish political and social-economic development is closely connected with his name. Some research-ers see him as Turkey’s second most important state leader after Ataturk. Ozal came from the family of a petty provincial clerk. Possessing charisma, the art of political intrigue, an analytical mind, broad views, and a sense of timing, Ozal led Turkey out of a deep economic crisis as prime-minister and later as president of the country. Ozal pursued a multi-directional foreign policy: not only did he continue to maintain traditional connections with Western countries, but he also worked on trade and economic relations with Muslim countries of the Near East. Liberalizing the economy and granting religious freedom became the basis of Ozal’s reforms. His reforms were risky and not always popular. Ozal’s strategy was to strike a balance between necessary economic changes while protecting his popularity. As a result, he escaped the populist trap; he drastically altered the functioning mode of the Turkish economy, allowing it to participate and compete in the international community; along with that, he managed to stay in the power. Despite the fact that there were some complex issues with the implementation of his reforms, they have proved to be socially beneficial in many aspects.