As relations with the United States
deteriorate, Turkey turns to Qatar for help.
During a meeting in Ankara on
Wednesday, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani
pledged to inject 15 billion dollars worth of investments into the Turkish economy.
The lira had already begun to stabilize after the
Turkish central bank vowed to provide
all liquidity needed by the country's banks
The currency had nosedived to
record lows over the past couple weeks
amid diplomatic and trade disputes with
Washington after Donald Trump announced
sanctions on two Turkish government
ministers and double tariffs on steel
and aluminum imports.
Turkey retaliated with tariffs on US products including cars, tobacco and alcohol.
White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders said the move was a regrettable step in the wrong
direction.
Tariffs that the United States placed on Turkey were out of national security interest.
Theirs are out of retaliation. I'm not
going to get ahead of anything on what
we may or may not do in an effort to
respond but certainly we don't support
Turkey's decision to retaliate against us
protecting our national security interests.
The origin of the crisis:
Andrew Brunson, an American pastor that
has been held in Turkey for over a year
and a half on espionage and terror related charges.
Though American officials and
Brunson himself insists he is innocent,
Ankara has refused to release him.
