[quote=GourmetItalia]That's very unfortunate to hear about Turkey and though I can't verify everything, the situation in Turkey does sound intolerable. I've certainly read about protests, conflicts with the PKK, the notorious hacker population, and other news, but ... on a side note, Turkey has come a long way since their early - mid 20th century Modernization efforts. It's good to know that the Turkish Armed Forces, Infrastructure, Educational Institutions, and Police Brigades are several shades better than their Southern Neighbors with the possible exception of Iran. Still, I don't know enough about your country to verify Turkey's strengths as a country. It does seem like there's much work to be done to improve the existing infrastructure.[/quote]

Most of the things that would allow for long-term investments were put down for rather obnoxious reasons. There was a plane designer who got support from Atatürk but got put down by İnönü after Atatürk's death, and had to use his own financial investments to build planes. He was banned from testing planes, even in his own private property. There were village institutes to educate the village people to enhance socio-cultural progress. It was shut down because of 'promoting Communism' by a Prime Minister who used Islam to get votes while banging the wives of his subordinates. In actuality, it was shut down because it was a thorn in the landlords' side as they didn't want educated people who could stop working for them (Guess what? The Prime Minister was a landlord too!). Now the country's completely dependent on other countries, with ignorant people who don't even know the basics of the religion they fervently defend. It's like Medieval times.

As a whole, the country's turned down so many opportunities it's no surprise that it's a cesspool, a swamp waiting to get dried out.