Turkey’s economic development, which has been “looking quite good”, hampers the exposure of “real problems”, according to OECD Working Group on Bribery chair Drago Kos, who urged that the low level of transparency should be higher on the agenda.
“Transparency is the tool that usually helps control what the state powers, especially what the executive branch is doing. However, an extremely low level of transparency is a problem in Turkey,” Kos told Dogan News Agency, on the sidelines of a Transparency International Turkey panel on April 7.
According to the 2015 Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International, Turkey’s score went from 53 to 66, compared to 2014.
However, Turkey’s economic development has been an asset comparable to many other countries, although it was “slowing down” and “not as vivid as it was before,” Kos added.
According to Kos, this upsurge also stirs questions about the transparency of other issues.
“This is the reason why many other problems of Turkey are not being exposed to such an extent. The problem of corruption could be much higher on the agenda, not only for the civil society and the public sector, but also the government itself,” he said.
“If it is not, there will be economic development which gives the impression that everything is fine, while it is not,” he said.
According to the OECD group chief, “real problems could pop up when this level of development slows down and people start to realize the problems.”
“Not one, not two, but several problems will erupt at once, and the government will have to deal with all of them,” Kos stressed.
