Erdogan calls on global leaders to take heed of dissent while redrawing economic order

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday called on International Monetary Fund and World Bank leaders to take into account the voices of protestors when formulating the post-crisis "new economic world order." His comments came during the opening of the IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Istanbul, as Erdogan reaffirmed Turkey's commitment to working with both institutions to reform institutions, making them more inclusive of their diverse membership, and represent the shifting power realities of the day. Like a rising number of voices at the forum, he stressed that the crisis shows that in a globalized world, countries need to work in a concerted manner, rather than unilaterally, to address problems. "If we want to make sure globalization helps global growth, we have to restructure international financial institutions," he said, adding that his government places great importance on strengthening multilateral institutions. "Only then will they be more inclusive and fulfill their responsibilities more effectively." In calling for a more eclectic spirit to embody the IMF and WB, he said that if they want to keep their legitimacy, they need to take into account the voices of the protesters who were being kept well away from the summit. "Everyone that steers the global economy – that means you – has to put their head between their hands and contemplate carefully on where all these faults stemmed from. Also, we have to lend an ear to the ongoing protest outside this hall," Erdogan said. He called on the global community to work together in making a major overhaul of the banking system in favor of regulation. He cited a lack of regulation of the financial structure as being one of the principal causes of the crisis, and said oversight of this sector would need to play an increasing part of this new emerging infrastructure. He also urged vigor in working together to reshape the post-crisis economic order, warning global leaders to be "prudent and not fall into complacency" now that the worst effects of the crisis are passing. "From the moment the international crisis emerged," he said, "the international community proved that it could act with effective cooperation. This is very promising for the future, showing that they can act decisively and in cooperation to combat issues of global importance." He added, "We now see the benefits of these measures," but warned again that medium- to long-term structural reforms are needed in order to establish and maintain architecture capable of taking into account the current global power dynamics. Decrying rising economic disparities among world nations, Erdogan called for a fairer distribution of prosperity to reduce this wealth gap between countries rich and poor. Warning that falling global demand due to the crisis has led to stiffer competition and calls for protectionist measures, Erdogan stressed that such measures should be avoided to enable recovery from the crisis with minimal damage as soon as possible.