Dear chancellor Angela Merkel, what an amazing bedfellow you have in Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
After ridding the court and parliament of anyone who disagrees with him, and after shutting down any newspapers and businesses that speak out against him, Erdogan extended Turkey’s state of emergency for 90 days today.
Previously Erdogan stated a 12-month extension of the emergency powers might “not be long enough for Turkey”.
Indefinite Suspension
Please consider Erdogan hints at extending Turkey’s state of emergency.
“I believe the nation will support an extension of the emergency rule,” Mr Erdogan said in Ankara on Thursday. He added that even a 12-month extension might “not be long enough for Turkey”.
His comments suggested he was preparing to reverse promises made to investors and the Turkish public. Mr Erdogan had said the 90-day state of emergency implemented after a failed coup in July was a temporary measure designed to flush out coup plotters.
The lira, which plummeted at the beginning of the week after Moody’s downgraded the country’s credit rating to junk status, fell further to 3.007 to the dollar on Thursday, highlighting investors’ concerns that the economy was being held increasingly hostage to politics.
The emergency powers, due to expire around mid-October, allow Mr Erdogan to rule by decree and make decisions that cannot be overturned by the Constitutional Court, the country’s highest legal body.
Mr Erdogan has already targeted the court, removing two of its members, in a sweeping crackdown on officials suspected of allegiance to Fethullah Gulen, a self-exiled cleric he blames for the failed putsch.
Since placing the country under emergency rule, the government has jailed tens of thousands of people, and accused more than 100,000 citizens — from doctors and teachers to journalists and military commanders — of colluding with Mr Gulen.
The government has also seized dozens of businesses, accusing their owners of funding Mr Gulen’s activities.
Fitch Mongering
Moody’s and the S&P have both downgraded Turkish debt to junk status. Fitch maintains an investment grade rating for Turkey.
Congratulations! Fitch will get all of the Turkish rating business for as long as it can stomach this farce.
Spotlight on Turkish Lira
Lira Trends vs US Dollar
- Devaluation Since Dec 1991: 99.67%
- Devaluation Since Mar 2000: 80.12%
- Devaluation Since Sep 2007: 60.24%
- Devaluation Since Dec 2014: 20.49%
- Incremental Loss 2000-2007: 50%
- Incremental Loss 2007-2014: 50%
- Incremental Loss 2014-2016: 20%
I believe it’s safe to spot the trend here. Get out of Turkish Lira.
Dear Angela, how can you look at yourself in a mirror every day and like the person you see?
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
Do we think that Hillary would have it any other way if given the chance? Crisis is near at hand, and her opportunity looms large. She my be disappointed however, as Obama may have “other” plans.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-03/are-they-planning-call-election-fraud-if-trump-wins
We will see other strong but not necessarily good leaders emerge as time goes on. The liberal pendulum is swinging the other way. Turkey, Philippines, Britain, soon USA. Globalism will eventually prevail but is due for a serious setback in the next generation.
Somehow, while we are supposed to be actively expressing every aspect of ourselves that we believe represents our uniqueness, YET we are supposed to surrender that uniqueness to a global governance which can not demonstrate in any plausible way that it can adequately represent even a small percentage of those people. It is obvious that their mandate is NOT to represent us, but to RULE us as not our equals but our superiors, our elite beyond question or reprisal. Simply look at Obamacare, jammed down our throats against the will of a significant majority of our citizens. Now look at Europe where they are allowing millions of immigrants to flood into centuries old cultures and the citizens are not just ignored, but threatened against protestation.
THIS is GLOBALIZATION. The absolute domination of a significant portion of the world’s population with NO accountability whatsoever. The taste we have in our mouth is but a clue, the appetizer, of what lies in our future.
Would agree. Existing structures are sufficient if funded properly, UNITED etc.
What happens if one of these large territories, say the EU, goes all Erdogan.
No dissent, 1984. It can happen.
Erdogan’s hanging on by a thread. “Leaders” don’t act the way he’s doing from a position of strength. High risk play after high risk play. Allegiances switched, then witched back, over night. He’s a cornered animal fighting for his life. And you don’t become a leader of a place like Turkey without having some pretty sharp claws.
I have no idea what is frightening him so much. Whether it is (unlikely) a shift in popular sentiment in a secular direction, supported by the Military. Or a poorly reported groundswell of Islamist, and/or separatist, support in Turkey as well. If the latter, Turkey is another Syria/Iraq, with a powerful, secular army supported by the West, fighting to “control” a population than increasingly no longer gives a f.
Fitch – Chicago’s best friend for a reason.
https://i.imgflip.com/17hdpd.jpg
Erdogan has gotten himself one of those Lifetime appointments…..
Looks like the Turkish central bank has achieved inflation! I’m sure their economy will take off now…
“After ridding the court and parliament of anyone who disagrees with him, and after shutting down any newspapers and businesses that speak out against him”…..hey , it was good enough for Abe Lincoln why not for our “ally” Mr. Erdogan?
“I believe the nation will support an extension of the emergency rule,” Mr Erdogan said in Ankara on Thursday. He added that even a 12-month extension might “not be long enough for Turkey”.
A 12 year extension might not be enough for Erdogan.
Can’t wait to see the response of the sheeple when Obama declares Trump victory a fraud due to Russian manipulatiom. Audacity propaganda at its best.
Something is wrong with your Turkish lira to dollar chart. I recall visiting Turkey in the 90’s. In those days, the gov’t used to simply reset the value of the lira and “change” the bills outstanding when it became ridiculous. I remember exchanging maybe $1-2,000 and telling my ex, “Here’s 500,000″(lira). Don’t spend it all at once.”