Turkey’s Customs and Trade Minister Bulent Tufenkci has estimated that the July 15 coup attempt has cost the Turkish economy around $100 billion, or around 300 billion Turkish Liras, and the amount is likely to increase when more calculations are made. “When we consider all those warplanes, helicopters, weapons, bombs and buildings, the cost is 300 billion liras at minimum according to our prior calculations. The exact cost may likely increase when the detailed calculations are made,” Tukfenkci said at a meeting with journalists in Ankara, according to Hurriyet news on Tuesday. “There will also be various costs in the medium-term,” he added. “For instance, many orders from abroad have been canceled. Many foreigners have halted their Turkey visits. The coup plotters have unfortunately created an image of Turkey as if it were a third world country. People who see tanks in the streets and the parliament bombed will not come to Turkey. All of these create costs in the medium-term.” However Tukfenkci stressed that the government “must thank the people,” since markets in the country weathered the storm generated by the attempted coup. “If such a coup was attempted in many other countries, the markets would probably be closed down for a week at least. Turkey experienced the attempted coup on Friday, July 15, but all the banks, houses, commodity markets and commerce centers opened next Monday, July 18. We did not see a huge rise in the rates,” he explained. Tukfenkci also emphasized the need of the government to reinvigorate the country’s tourist industry – which he pointed out has already been crippled by Russian sanctions and terrorist attacks in recent months – by promoting what he called “an amazing resistance narrative,” which should be promoted widely abroad. He also said that Turkey should warn foreign countries about the movement headed by the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Turkish officials say was the mastermind behind the coup attempt. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim also claimed on Monday night that the Turkish economy is now actually stronger than before the coup. “Our economy is still as steady as a rock. There was not even a minor economic shock. But, this situation disturbed some sides,” he said, according to Anadolu news. “Our democracy and state of law is also stronger than before the attempted coup,” he added. Since the failed coup the Turkish government has rounded up tens-of-thousands of people, soldiers and civil servants alike, whom they allege may have played a role in that attempt to topple the government.
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