17 vs 72

Turkey, over the past 13 years or so, has been ruled by a party that bears the name "justice and development." The "justice" part is probably a bad joke. The "development" part is incomplete.  

As in most non-Western cultures, in Turkey, too, size does matter. It is not surprising that Turkey's leaders do not hide their desire for a much bigger population, or often boast that Turkey's economy is the 17th biggest in the world. The discrepancy between the numbers 17 and 72, in fact, unveil a story of failure, not success.  

Turkey's Human Development Index (HDI) value for 2014 positioned the country at 72 out of 188 countries and territories in the world, a regress of three places from 69th in 2013. Turkey would have been a much better place to live in had it boasted the 72nd biggest economy in the world and the 17th best HDI.    

The Justice and Development Party loves to boast the world's biggest airports, a successful national carrier, bigger (double-lane) roads, the shiniest shopping malls, the poshest residence buildings, big bridges and tunnels, fancy cars, high smartphone ownership and over 175 universities across the country. Not bad things at all. That is, no doubt, physical development.  

In reality, however, the shiniest, poshest, fanciest and other finer things of life can be afforded by a lucky minority, as Turkey also boasts one of the world's most unfair income distribution scales. With less than $10,000 in per capita income, it is still an emerging economy - like it was two decades ago.
 
Big bridges and tunnels have not been built in Turkey only; and easier access to smartphones and the Internet is not an exclusively Turkish success story. Turkish universities, judging from credible international scientific...