Looking for an easy way out: the gold rush

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In Turkey, there is a concept that is desperately brought to the agenda when the problems in the economy reach to an insurmountable extent: under the mattress (yastık altı).

Under the mattress is a magical concept. It is an economic term unique to us that does not have an equivalent in other countries. It cannot be translated into foreign languages; even if it is, nobody understands it. In this sense, it is indigenous and national. We have become accustomed to practices that cannot be compared to anything to be named "Turkish model." Under the mattress is indeed an endless source of hope unique to Turkey.

To understand the phenomena that we encounter in social life, it may be useful to scrutinize the origin of the situation we experience. I guess it is important that all of us have been instilled since primary school years that our country is in a fantastic geographical region full of underground and aboveground assets.

Nationalism begins everywhere by emphasizing how beautiful nature the country has. In the process of the construction of nation states, the glorification of the nation is not enough; the phrases "our beautiful land," "our heavenly homeland" are repeated at every opportunity. When the nation states of Europe were established in the 19th century, every one of them believed they had natural beauties that needed to be jealously protected from enemies.

Naturally, similar tendencies came to the fore in Turkey as well. All of us believed we had a very rich geography. However, in Turkey, this naïve, childish attitude about geography — like not being able to differentiate between legend and history — has continued to the present day.

The underground is full of minerals

Still, many people believe that Turkey's underground is full of rich minerals. So much so that Turkey's underground is full of oil, but foreign companies covered it with concrete when they saw the oil. Miners saying it is not necessary to exploit every reserve and wells with high costs and low productivity are closed all over the world does not convince many people.

A similar situation applies to gold as well. It is believed that Turkey would solve all of its problems if it extracts its gold. But it is thought that foreign powers prevent the extraction of gold by using environmental destruction as an excuse.

Boron has a special place in this field. It is learned that boron is a valuable mineral and Turkey has the largest boron deposits in the world. This correct and useful information is rendered meaningless by the desire to become like oil-rich Arab countries. It is not considered that boron is really valuable, but its areas of usage are limited and that Turkey does not have the technology to make a lot of money out of boron.

Those who are not satisfied with these believe there are huge thorium reserves in the country. However, miners say thorium does not exist freely in nature.

Aboveground assets feed nature

A similar view continues for the country's aboveground assets. Turkey is a country that experiences all four seasons, has the most fertile lands in the world, has rich water resources and where anything can grow. It is believed so much that anyone who says the opposite becomes an enemy.

Because of this belief, Turkey's import of agricultural products is met with horror. It is said, "How can a country that could feed the whole world import agricultural products?"

Turkey importing so many agricultural products is the result of the government's extremely wrong and even terrible policies. However, this does not change the fact that Turkey has lands that are not too fertile and have insufficient water. In many parts of Europe, lands are more fertile and have more water. The Nile alone carries more water than our rivers.

As a matter of fact, there is the need for a structural transformation in agriculture because the lands are not fertile enough. If you believe that Turkey's lands are enough for the development of agriculture, you also believe that the current structure of agriculture can be sustained.

However, the current structure in agriculture cannot be sustained. In Turkey, agriculture is inefficient and expensive. Unless there is a structural transformation, more and more agricultural products will be imported every year. In these lands, agricultural producers have to either establish cooperatives or become workers in capitalist farms.

There is no easy solution to anything in a country that does not have underground and aboveground assets. Solutions to every problem necessitates radical transformations.

We will find an easy way

Nevertheless, in a country where ignorance does not cause discomfort and that glorifies cunningness, looking for easy solutions cannot be given up. It is believed that there are definitely great resources in the country that have not yet been discovered. If we find these resources like searching for treasure, problems will be solved automatically.

In every period when problems are exacerbated, the concept of under the mattress is put forward. Investment is needed in the country, but if you have no intentions to work to raise a qualified labor force, focus on scientific studies, develop technology, strengthen institutions, and plan resources and expenditures, all you will do is to look for ready-for-use resources.

The under-the-mattress is based on the belief that individuals keep their savings outside of the monetary and capital markets. According to this, everyone has some amount of savings but they do not deposit it in banks, invest it in the stock market, or buy bonds; they keep it at home. It is not asked, "Why would people do this in a country with the constant fear of inflation?" It is believed that it definitely exists.

Every time, without any proper information, estimates are made; it is calculated how much under-the-mattress money there is. Every time, it is believed that the resource that will save the country is found.

However, because income is low and income distribution is uneven in Turkey, savings are insufficient as well. This is why external resources are needed in every era. Except for mafia and money launderers, no one has hidden money.

Still, the belief that there is hidden wealth in the country is not given up. After all, we are talking about a country where even the finance minister believes that five families rule the world economy. Whoever you talk to recounts Rotschild, Rockefeller and so on.

Under the mattress

After money could not be found under the mattress, the time came to look for gold. The probability of finding gold is lower than money. Because the reason for buying gold itself is distrust of the system. Why would a person hand over a tool to the system by their own hands despite resorting to that tool because they do not  trust the system?

They say they will take bars, grams, coins, and quarter coins of gold and give a certificate. It is not enough; they will accept jewelry, too. Gold can be physically withdrawn when wanted — presumably when there is a wedding. Thankfully, there was no mention of gold teeth. They will set up a system comprising ten thousand jewelers and collect the gold. It is estimated that there are five thousand tonnes of gold worth 280 billion dollars.

This will not happen. There is no complicated reason for that. It will not happen for the same reason as the CDS premium reached the highest level in the world. It will not happen for the same reason as foreign investors left the stock market. It will not happen for the same reason as no one makes investments in Turkey with the money they earn. It will not happen for the same reason as young people who graduated from university want to go abroad. (BD/AKP/VK)