Turkey’s economy is now “under siege,” the NATO ally’s authoritarian president said in response to the Trump administration’s recent decision to double the tariffs it will impose on steel and aluminum from that country.
“Turkey’s economic dynamics are solid, strong and intact, and they will continue to be intact,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told an assembly of Turkish ambassadors, according to the Daily Sabah. “Turkey is under siege in the economy, as in other areas.”
Local press said Erdogan’s comments seemed to be aimed at the U.S. when he said, “the bullies of the global system cannot roughly, shamelessly encroach on our gains that were paid for by blood.”
[Opinion: As US-Turkey relations enter crisis mode, here’s what Trump should do]
The Trump administration has hit Turkey with tariffs but also separate sanctions aimed at forcing Turkey to release an American pastor accused of plotting against Erdogan’s government. The Turkish leader has replied defiantly, flirting openly with the idea of re-aligning his government with U.S. adversaries such as Russia.
“We are gearing up for trade in national currencies with China, Russia, Iran, Ukraine, which account for the largest bilateral trade volume,” Erdogan said Saturday, according to TASS, a Russian-run outlet. “If European countries want to get rid of the dollar pressure, we are ready to create a similar system with them.”
Trump last week said tariffs would be doubled to counteract Turkey’s falling currency, which is putting Turkey’s exports in a more competitive position.
“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 tweeted. “Aluminum will now be 20% and Steel 50%. Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time!”
Erdogan cited that tweet to vindicate his protest that the United States has waged “economic war” on Turkey, in addition to scheduling a symbolically freighted call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but his next steps failed to assure investment markets that the Turkish currency would stabilize.
“[Erdogan’s] son-in-law, the newly minted minister of treasury and finance, on Friday announced his long-anticipated ‘new economic plan’ — an amateur slideshow that failed to assuage investor concerns and led to a further plunge in the Turkish currency,” former Turkish lawmaker Aykan Erdemir, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, wrote Saturday for Politico Europe. “By the time he ended his one-hour talk, the lira lost almost 8 percent. Turkey closed the day with the biggest one-day devaluation since the 2001 crisis that brought Erdogan to power.”
The diplomatic and economic crisis could expand Putin’s opportunity to drive an economic wedge between Turkey and the rest of the NATO alliance.
“So far everything is moving along,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday when asked if Turkey’s economic troubles would interfere with Russian-backed projects.
