Any attack on the Turkish economy is equivalent to an attack on the country's flag and religion, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday, amid the fall the national currency that resulted from the United States doubling tariffs on imported Turkish metals.
ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th August, 2018) Any attack on the Turkish economy is equivalent to an attack on the country's flag and religion, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday, amid the fall the national Currency that resulted from the United States doubling tariffs on imported Turkish metals.
Turkey's economic crisis deepened following US President Donald Trump's recent decision to authorize the doubling of tariffs on imported Turkish steel and aluminum. The move caused the Turkish lira to drop to a historic low. In response, Turkey also increased tariffs on imports of some US products.
"There is no difference between attacking our economy and attacking our flag and adhan [Islamic call to worship]. The goal is the same: to bring Turkey and the Turkish people to their knees and to enslave them. We are a people who would rather take a punch than bow. Those who believe that they will be able to use the currency exchange rate to force Turkey to surrender, will very soon understand that they were wrong," Erdogan said in a statement obtained by Sputnik.
US-Turkish bilateral relations have deteriorated over the imprisonment of US pastor Andrew Brunson, arrested in Turkey on suspicion of having ties to the Gulen movement, which is accused of orchestrating the 2016 failed military coup in the country. The pastor is currently under house arrest. Last week, a Turkish court rejected Washingtons latest appeal for the Brunson's release.
