No difference between armed terrorist and terrorist with forex: Erdoğan

ANKARA

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There is no difference between an armed terrorist and a terrorist holding dollars, euros and interest, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Jan. 12, describing the goal of the latter to take over the country.

“Everyone already sees and knows the attacks that Turkey has been subjected to also have an economic aspect. There is no difference between a terrorist who has a weapon or bomb in his hand and a terrorist who has dollars, euros and interest in terms of aim. The aim is to bring Turkey to its knees, to take over Turkey and to distance Turkey from its goals. They are using the foreign exchange rate as a weapon,” Erdoğan said at his 34th meeting with village chiefs at the Presidential Palace in Ankara.

According to Erdoğan, those who use economic tools in synchronization with terror attacks to damage the country are actually ruining their property base, as such incidents will ultimately produce new rules and new institutions. Turkey is preparing to evaluate those opportunities in the best possible way at a time when the world economy is experiencing a structural transformation, he added.

He also said the country should seek ways to overcome problems by looking for new markets for exports, developing new destinations and marketing methods for tourism and using domestic resources and technology to deal with contraction.

Erdoğan also said speculation over foreign exchange did not have any depth and that there had been a rate increase by very small numbers, again urging people to sell foreign currency to prevent such a rise while ordering the Central Bank and all banks to take a position to “foil the plot.”

The president also reiterated his call on the business world to invest, produce and increase employment by taking risks today as there might otherwise be nothing left to risk tomorrow.