Ex-President of Turkey Abdullah Gul on the future of country, on Syria and Afghanistan

Turkey’s economic and social development since the early 2000s has been impressive, making Turkey an upper-middle-income country. During Abdullah Gül’s terms in office as Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and President of Turkey, the country rapidly urbanized, maintained a strong macroeconomic framework, opened to foreign trade and finance. It was also during his presidency, when Turkey harmonized many laws and regulations with the European Union standards and embraced the western democratic values, in aspiration to achieve all EU membership conditions and become an influential EU member state. Abdullah Gül rarely gives interviews, especially to foreign media. This exclusive interview is the exception to the rule. In this episode of IMPACTFUL with Lyazzat Shatayeva, Abdullah Gül spoke about his hopes for the future of Turkey, cooling of the Turkey-USA relations, a special place given to the ties with Russia, and the impact of Turkey’s transition from a parliamentary governance to an executive presidency.