Erdogan’s Rise Built on Fast-Track Economy Now Slowing

After building a political career based on economic strength, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan may have to spend some of the next five years repairing the damage that his pursuit of rapid growth has brought.

Erdogan, 60, won Turkey’s first direct presidential election on Aug. 10, extending his leadership of the country until at least 2019. He now confronts an economy nearing the limits of fast-track growth based on encouraging rapid construction and consumer spending at the expense of its manufacturing industry, said Sevket Pamuk, a professor of economics at Bogazici University in Istanbul.