...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire...
's economy was in trouble before the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...outbreak and its economic fallout hit the country. The
Two-minute video at the link, but the highlights are: Turkey’s external debt expected to be US$170 billion by year end; Turkish lira down 15% against the dollar so far; and, a tourism season that had just begun in March when everything was closed, such that revenues are only 10% of expected. Not a good situation in which to sequester the most productive citizens in prison on various trumped up charges while waging an increasing number of expensive wars abroad. Confiscated Gulenist bank accounts and Libyan gold don’t stretch nearly as far as they used to, donchaknow.