The Turkish Lira made its first decline in a week after investors grew weary over the situation in the country as riot police stormed Taksim square at the weekend.
Violence erupted throughout Istanbul as protestors clashed with police as the authorities expelled protestors under the orders of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. Clashes spread out of the hotly contested Taksim square, a day after police cleared Gezi Park of demonstrators. In scenes that have been common in Turkey’s largest city over the past week police fired tear gas and water cannon to drive anti-government protestors out of the area.
Adding to the sense of uncertainty and an escalation in the crisis, five labour unions declared a general strike in support of the protestors.
Hundreds of thousands of Erdogan supporters gathered to hear the prime minister speak at an Istanbul parade ground. He defiantly told them that the two weeks of unrest had been manipulated by ‘terrorists’ and dismissed suggestions that he was acting like a dictator.
“They say ‘you are too tough’, they say ‘dictator’. What kind of a dictator is this who met the Gezi Park occupiers and honest environmentalists? Is there such a dictator?” Erdogan said to roars of approval from the crowd.
He dismissed the demonstrations as “nothing more than the minority’s attempt to dominate the majority … We could not have allowed this and we will not allow it.”
As he spoke riot police and protestors clashed only a few streets away. According to Lawyers up to 500 people have been detained and four protestors are known to have been killed.
“The disappointment over developments over the weekend and the lack of agreement to end demonstrations puts a negative bias in the market” Said Tim Ash, chief emerging markets economist at Standard Bank Plc.
Current Turkish Lira (TRY) Exchange Rates
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The Turkish Lira/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.3411 <
The Turkish Lira/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.4019 <
The Turkish Lira/ US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.5362 <
The Turkish Lira/Japanese Yen Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 50.8201
The Euro/Turkish Lira Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 2.4879 >
The US Dollar/Turkish Lira Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.8648 >
The Japanese Yen/Turkish Lira Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.0196 <
(Correct as of 11:35am GMT)
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