A Reuters poll on Friday forecast that the Turkish lira would continue falling, plunging to 6.25 to the US dollar in a year “amid rising tensions with the United States and potential uncertainty after local elections.”
Ankara and Washington have been involved a dispute over Turkey’s purchase of a Russian air defense system, about which US Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday that Turkey must make a choice between its NATO ally, the US, and Moscow.
The US wants Turkey to buy Patriot missiles instead of Russian S-400s.
The US has also halted delivery of equipment related to production of the F-35 stealth jet to Turkey, which joined the project in 1999 and eventually expects to buy 100 jets.
Washington also wants Turkey to release NASA scientist Serkan Gölge, a US-Turkish dual citizen who is in jail on terrorism charges, and Turkish employees of the US Consulate General in İstanbul, where they are on trial for espionage.
Last summer a crisis between the two NATO allies over an American pastor’s trial on terrorism charges negatively affected Turkey’s economy, causing the lira to plunge to a historic low of 7.20 to the dollar.