‘Money without gov’t securities is robbery’

Printing money without government securities is nothing but a modern form of robbery, Turkey’s prime minister said yesterday, adding that such reckless practices had led the EU and U.S. economies down the road of perdition.

“We have never printed money without securities,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told the opening ceremony of the World Turkish Business Council meeting organized by the Foreign Economic Board of Turkey (DEİK) in Istanbul on Nov. 19.

Previous Turkish governments printed money without securities, paving the way for financial difficulties in the country, he said.

The United States and some European countries have also printed money without securities, thereby deepening the economic crisis, the prime minister said.

“We consider printing money without securities a modern way of robbery, it is a way of exploiting the money that people have in their pockets,” Erdoğan said, adding that many leaders from different parts of the world often recommend that he “protect Turkey’s currency.”

No eurozone problems

“Many wonder whether they should leave the eurozone or stay in; do we have a similar problem? No!” he said.

Erdoğan noted that Turkish people trust in Turkish currency. He said, “We have started trade in our currency with Russia and Iran, now doing the same with China now.”