Turkey’s president has lashed out at the Financial Times (FT) and other Western media, accusing them of falsely portraying the Turkish economy as being on the brink of collapse, The Associated Press reported.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke Thursday after the Financial Times reported that Turkey’s central bank had bolstered its foreign currency reserves with short-term borrowed money, leading to concerns that Turkey may not be able to defend itself in the event of a currency crisis. The Turkish lira weakened some 2 percent against the dollar following the report.
Erdoğan insisted the economy “is standing strong.” He claimed Turkey was being attacked because it was speaking out against injustice, including as regards refugees.
“Oh, Financial Times! What do you know about Turkey, which hosts 4 million refugees? How many refugees are there in your country?” Erdoğan said.