In the 1950s, Germany experienced a decade of sustained economic growth known as Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle), which transformed the country into a major European power. Since 2002, Turkey has been experiencing its own decade-long Wirtschaftswunder, casting Ankara as the dominant power in its neighborhood.
Turkey’s new foreign policy is as much rooted in the Turkish Wirtschaftswunder as it is in the country’s transformation under the Justice and Development Party (AKP) beginning in 2002. Furthermore, in a near perfect alignment of the stars, Turkey’s demographic situation and its political stability both suggest that the Turkish Wirtschaftswunder could continue until at least 2020, feeding into Ankara’s claim to regional power.
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