Ahmet Karabay
A person of Turkish origin has won the Nobel Prize, considered the most prestigious award in the world. There is no doubt that the people living in these lands, with their shallow mentality and inability to accept the success of their own, will not be able to digest Daron Acemoğlu’s achievement. They will likely search for conspiracy theories beneath it.
In 2006, Orhan Pamuk won the Nobel Prize for Literature, in 2015, Aziz Sancar for Chemistry, and in 2024, Daron Acemoğlu for Economics. On the day Acemoğlu, along with Simon Johnson and James Robinson, received the Nobel in Economics for their work on “the formation of institutions and their impact on prosperity,” Turkey was discussing how to tax money that does not exist.
Had Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s CHP won the election on May 14, 2023, Daron Acemoğlu would have been placed in charge of Turkey’s economy. Kılıçdaroğlu believed with all his heart back then that Acemoğlu would win the Nobel Prize one day.
Because Acemoğlu was part of Kılıçdaroğlu’s economic team, he faced a barrage of insults from the AK Party or the People’s Alliance. The person who claimed to be an “economist” while promoting the “nas doctrine” has likely postponed his Nobel hopes to another time.
Tayyip Erdoğan, who is pulling all sorts of tricks to be re-elected president, has partnered with Mustafa Destici, a man who hired his daughter to a cushy position in the Parliament without an exam while there are so many unemployed people, and who likened those opposing the 750 TL tax on credit cards to Armenians or Greeks. On the same day that Destici made these insults, an Armenian Turkish citizen won the Nobel Prize.
It would be nice if Destici, who knows nothing but to threaten those who don’t support the government, had contributed something of value to the country. After making the “Who stands with whom?” reminder, we need to return to our topic.
THE MINDSET THAT WANTED TO TURN DARON INTO SÜLEYMAN
Daron Acemoğlu, born in Istanbul in 1967, graduated from Aramyan Uncuyan Armenian Primary School and then from Galatasaray High School in 1986. Acemoğlu’s life was changed during his years at Galatasaray, also known as Mekteb-i Sultani, by the indifference of his history teacher and classmates.
During the period of increasing fascism after the 1980 coup, one day, his history teacher asked Daron to stand up and state his name. When the student said his name was “Daron,” the history teacher responded, “That’s not a Turkish name. From now on, your name is Süleyman,” and had him sit down.
The fact that this history teacher didn’t even know that Süleyman is not a Turkish name but the name of a Jewish prophet deeply affected Daron. However, years later, Daron revealed that one of the main reasons he left Turkey was his classmates’ lack of reaction. Writer and famous collector Saruhan Doğan beautifully recounts those days…
After Acemoğlu won the Nobel Prize, Galatasaray High School proudly announced that he, like Aziz Sancar, who won the 2015 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, was also one of their students. But did Galatasaray also remember that fascist-minded history teacher from the 1980s?
What if Acemoğlu had pursued his career at Boğaziçi University instead of going to MIT in the U.S.? Today, he would likely have been dismissed with a KHK (decree-law) and, most likely, imprisoned for his outspoken views.
Acemoğlu, who was the first to sign the statement known as the “Boğaziçi Declaration,” was not targeted by the pro-government media or hindered in his work because he wasn’t an academic in Turkey. His success is now widely appreciated by the public.
Yet, there are still some nationalists who cling to power or recognize no nation but the Turkish people. These people try to explain Acemoğlu’s success with paranoid claims of anti-Turkish or anti-Muslim sentiment, despite his deserving Nobel Prize.
For instance, Nihat Genç quickly remarked, “His book, which tries to pass off Western colonialism as civilization, is a monument of shame for humanity! Just like Orhan Pamuk, Daron Acemoğlu was given this award for the same reason!”
In his book Why Nations Fail, Acemoğlu explores why nations with similar characteristics differ so greatly in their economic and political development. Acemoğlu and James Robinson, in their book, seek to answer the question of why some nations succeed in creating prosperity while others fall behind.
Published in 2013, the book also sheds light on why Turkey has been left out of this race. It’s clear that the answers given won’t sit well with the current government. As the economic and social policy failures grew, Acemoğlu’s critiques intensified. In a May 2021 interview with Murat Sabuncu, he warned that the economic crisis would deepen.
Acemoğlu, who said, “I am concerned about the future of Turkey’s economy and democracy,” could hardly be expected to be liked by the government. After the Nobel Prize announcement, the only government figure who spontaneously congratulated him was Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek. The other members of the Beştepe Palace cabinet, during a period of rumored cabinet reshuffles, chose not to show their colors until President Erdoğan made his stance clear. Erdoğan brushed it off with a brief statement six hours later.
There’s no doubt that Acemoğlu’s Nobel Prize will increase young people’s interest in economics in a society that has struggled with economic issues for centuries.
But first, we need to answer the question: “Did Acemoğlu win this prize thanks to us, or in spite of us?”
