"The debate over Turkey
In 'Selling Turkey' (Oct. 8), Mark Leonard of the Center for European Reform in London is quoted as saying that 'rebranding Turkey as an industrial powerhouse is perilous strategy' because 'the reality is that most Turks are in agriculture' and that 'to pretend that Anatolia is Silicon Valley won't work.'
The reality is that 90 percent of Turkish exports are industrial goods. The agricultural sector occupies effectively 25 percent of the active population and is responsible for 12 percent of Turkey's gross national product.
Nobody has ever pretended that Anatolia is already a Silicon Valley, but it is becoming a major industrial center for the European economy. In Europe, Turkey ranks seventh in the automotive industry, first in television manufacturing, first in clothing exports, sixth in refrigerator manufacturing, first in flat glass production and sixth in the iron and steel sector. Turkey's information and communication technologies market, research and development budget and e-government spending have been increasing by several folds in the last years.
The reality is that Turkey is the only large, young, dynamic, entrepreneurial and industrial emerging market in Europe. These are basic but not yet well-known facts.
Bahadir Kaleagasi, Brussels Turkish Industry and Business Association"
The Editorials & Commentary - International Herald Tribune-The debate over Turkey
