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Kemal Dervis, the economist who was instrumental in leading his native Turkey out of the economic crisis at the beginning of this century, and who went on to become the first person to lead the United Nations Development Program from a country that received development aid from the program, has died. on Sunday in Bethesda, Md. He is 74 years old.
The Brookings Institution, where Mr. Dervis had been director and vice president of the global economic and development program and was a non-resident, confirmed his death. Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said he died of an unspecified illness.
Mr. Dervis had been working in various positions at the World Bank for two decades when, in early 2001, prices in Turkey began to rise and the currency, the lira, collapsed in value. Journalist Andrew Finkel wrote in April of that year that “Turkey carries in his wallet a bill of 10 million lira, the highest denomination note in the world, and after the new debacle it is worth less than $10.”
The crisis is said to be due to a disagreement between Turkey’s president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, and the prime minister, Bulent Ecevit, over anti-corruption measures; banks and financial markets reacted badly to the tiff. The crash was swift, and Mr. Dervis, then vice president of the World Bank, was seen as a savior.
“Ecevit, then the prime minister, called Dervis to come and help the country as a minister,” M. Hakan Yavuz, professor of political science at the University of Utah and an expert on Turkey, said by email. “He agreed and came to serve his country. His economic policy was the basis of the main economic development between 2002 and 2020 in Turkey.
Mr. Dervis took the newly created position of economy minister. “Even the Name of Dervis Is Enough” to calm the crisis, a headline in Hurriyet newspaper said, noting that the announcement of the appointment has boosted the market and reduced interest rates – for one day.
But handling the crisis is far more complicated. You need Mr. Dervis to negotiate a loan with the International Monetary Fund, push for systemic changes in the banking system, try to stop corruption and, initially, cause enough pain through spending cuts.
“Don’t expect me to make a policy to save us just for today,” Mr. Dervis said in mid-April 2001. “We can’t dynamite the future to save the present.”
His policies ultimately led to sustained economic stability, Professor Yavuz said, until a few years ago, when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan backed away from Mr. Dervis’s policies and allowed corruption to flourish.
Mr. Dervis stayed in the ministry for more than a year before he ran for a seat in Parliament; he won, and continued to serve in the body until 2005. That year, Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed him to lead the United Nations development office, which can help countries eradicate poverty and establish sustainable economies.
It was an appointment that made history: Mr. Dervis was the first person to head the office from a country that received aid from it. (The previous administrator was American or British.)
Mr. Dervis, Professor Yavuz said, “always focus on the social consequences of economic policies.”
“As head of the UN Development Programme, he has a sense of helping and caring for vulnerable sectors of the population,” he said, adding that Mr. Dervis sought to protect the group from the negative consequences of economic policies.
He focuses on how globalization affects poorer populations. He also highlighted the expected effects of climate change, which he said would have a particular impact on the poor in many countries.
“His political identity is a social democrat,” said Professor Yavuz, “because he wants to see a ‘social market’ where the state plays an important role in helping the poor and the needy.”
After four years at the United Nations, Mr. Dervis joined Brookings, where he continued to work on ways to make the economy work for everyone.
“He develops a strong research agenda on strengthening the drivers of global growth, ensuring that no one is left behind,” the institute said in a statement, “and proposing policies on the future of global governance and the technological transformation of the world economy, with a particular focus on productivity, inclusiveness, sustainability, and international cooperation.
Kemal Dervis was born on January 10, 1949, in Istanbul. He earned a bachelor’s degree at the London School of Economics in 1968 and a master’s degree in economics in 1970. In 1973 he received his Ph.D. from Princeton University, and taught there for a time in the 1970s, as well as at the Middle East Technical University in Turkey.
Information on survivors was not immediately available.
Professor Yavuz said that Mr. Dervis was often criticized – not only by traders in Turkey who felt that the changes in 2001 did not help fast enough, but also by leftists who thought he was not left-wing enough, and by Islamists and nationalists who saw him as a agents of Western imperialism. But throughout, he said, Mr. Dervis saw the big picture.
“They care about creating a socioeconomic system so that every citizen can maximize their potential,” he said.
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