‘They have their dollar, we have Allah’: Erdogan claims currency crisis is a ‘national battle’ against Turkey’s ‘economic enemies’ as the lira hits a record low against the dollar
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls currency crisis a ‘national battle’
President is urging Turks to exchange gold and hard currency into lira
Lira plunged as much as 14 per cent Friday, and hit a record low against dollar
SARA MALM
DAILYMAIL.COM
10 August 2018
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is wrestling to get the Turkish economy on track after the currency hit a record low against the dollar today.
Erdogan framed Turkey’s currency crisis as a ‘national battle’ against economic enemies, namely the U.S., saying ‘if they have their dollar, we have the people, we have Allah’.
He urged people to exchange gold and hard currency into lira to help stabilize it.
Shortly after Erdogan’s war declaration, President Donald Trump responded by tweeting that he had doubled steel and aluminum tariffs on Turkey, worsening the lira’s position even further.
The lira lost nearly nine per cent against the dollar and euro on Friday – and has lost over a third of its value against the currencies so far this year.
It comes amid worries about Erdogan’s influence over monetary policy and worsening U.S. relations which have snowballed into a market panic.
‘I have just authorized a doubling of Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum with respect to Turkey as their currency, the Turkish Lira, slides rapidly downward against our very strong Dollar!’ Trump said on Twitter.
‘Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time!’
Trump’s announcement came after talks in Washington this week failed to resolve the impasse which has led both sides to slap sanctions on senior officials amid fears of graver measures to come.
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