Turkey’s President has slammed the crash of the lira as a ‘political plot’ amid a row with the US and Donald Trump.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country would instead seek ‘new markets, new partnerships and new allies’ after Trump announced higher tariffs on imports from Turkey.
‘The aim of the operation is to make Turkey surrender in all areas from finance to politics,’ Erdogan told his party members in the Black Sea city of Trabzon.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the crash of the lira is a ‘political plot’ by the US

President Donald Trump said on Friday he’d authorised higher tariffs on imports from Turkey. Pictured in July with Erdogan at the NATO summit
‘We are once again facing a political, underhand plot. With God’s permission we will overcome this.’
The development comes after US President Donald Trump said on Friday he would be imposing a 20 per cent duty on aluminum and 50 per cent one on steel.
Tensions have been mounting between the two NATO allies over Ankara’s detention of several Americans and other diplomatic issues.
‘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 in an early morning post on Twitter.

In a statement the White House clarified that Trump had authorized the preparation of documents to raise steel and aluminum tariffs. It did not say when the tariffs would take effect

The euro slid sharply against the dollar after the announcement as it was reported that the European Central Bank was concerned about the performance of the lira and the impact it was having on European financial institutions

After plunging dramatically, Turkey’s lira recovered slightly to 6.4 against the US dollar
‘Aluminum will now be 20 per cent and Steel 50 per cent. Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time!’
In a statement the White House clarified that Trump had authorized the preparation of documents to raise steel and aluminum tariffs through his authority under Section 232 of U.S. trade law. It did not say when the tariffs would take effect.
Last week, the US imposed sanctions on Turkey’s justice minister and interior minister for refusing to release American pastor Andrew Brunson, who had been in custody since 2016 on charges of terrorism and espionage that Washington says are bogus.
The euro slid sharply against the dollar after the announcement as it was reported that the European Central Bank was concerned about the performance of the lira and the impact it was having on European financial institutions.
It was down roughly 0.5 percent to trade at $1.146 on Friday morning.
A Financial Times report said the ECB was worried that Turkish citizens would start defaulting on their loans. The foreign loans account for 40 percent of total assets in the Turkish banking sector, CNBC reported.
Turkey’s lira also plunged before recovering slightly to 6.4 against the dollar.

US pastor Andrew Brunson is seen here on July 25 in Turkey after being released by the government to house arrest

The lira plunged as much as 14 per cent on Friday, amid worries about the influence of Erdogan, pictured with his wife Emine, over monetary policy and worsening US relations
Trump’s announcement that he would double tariffs on metal imports from Turkey came less than an hour after Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan urged his country to help him defend the nation against an ‘economic war’.
Erdogan appealed to a crowd in the city of Bayburt to exchange dollars and gold for Turkish lira to prop up the plunging currency.
Erdogan framed Turkey’s currency crisis as a ‘national battle’ against economic enemies, namely the US, saying ‘if they have their dollar, we have the people, we have Allah.’
The US imposed tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminum in March for imports from a variety of countries.
Since then, its relationship with Turkey, the sixth largest steel importer to the US, the world’s biggest steel importer overall, has deteriorated, prompting Ankara to send a delegation this week to Washington to meet with both the State and Treasury Departments.