Turkey’s currency has plummeted as relations with the US have worsened

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has repeated a call for Turks to sell dollars and euros to support the national currency, which has been in freefall over concerns about the economy and deteriorating ties with the US.

On Saturday, Erdoğan urged Turks to help support the lira to win what he described as a “war of independence”.

“If there are dollars under your pillow, take these out,” he told supporters in the north-eastern Turkish town of Ünye.

“If there are euros, take these out … immediately give these to the banks and convert to Turkish lira and, by doing this, we fight this war of independence and the future. Because this is the language they understand.”

A financial shockwave ripped through Turkey on Friday when its currency nosedived over concerns about the country’s economic policies and a deepening row with the US.

Turkey's economic crisis deepens as Trump doubles tariffs Read more

Washington and Ankara have been at odds over a wide range of topics – from diverging interests in Syria to Turkey’s ambition to buy Russian defence systems, and the case of evangelical US pastor Andrew Brunson.

Brunson is currently on trial in Turkey for espionage and terror-related charges linked to a failed coup attempt in the country two years ago.

On Saturday, Erdoğan said it was a pity the US was choosing Brunson over its strategic Nato ally.

He also said it was wrong of the US to try to bring Turkey into line with threats, a day after Trump doubled tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Turkey.

“I am once again calling on those in America: it is a pity that you choose a pastor over your strategic partner in Nato,” he said.

After almost 20 months in a Turkish jail, a court moved Brunson to house arrest in July. Since then, Trump and his vice-president, Mike Pence, have repeatedly called for his release, while Ankara has said the decision is up to the courts.

In response, Washington sanctioned two Turkish ministers and Trump on Friday tweeted that the tariffs on aluminium imports would be increased to 20% and those on steel to 50% as the Turkish lira “slides rapidly downward against our very strong Dollar!”

He added: “Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time!”

The US is the biggest destination for Turkish steel exports, at 11% of the Turkish export volume. The lira, which had already lost one-third of its value this year, largely over worries about Erdoğan’s wider control of the economy, is at a fresh record low, at one point losing 18% – its biggest fall since 2001.

In what appears to be a diplomatic riposte, Turkey later said Erdoğan had held a phone call with Russian president Vladimir Putin to discuss economic ties, suggesting it might gravitate further away from its Nato allies toward cooperation with Russia, whose relations with the west are at their most strained since the cold war.