One of the most unpleasing weeks we’ve been through is finally about to end. Exchange rates didn’t have e very good start to the week: First they fell, then went up and fell back again. USD/TRY, however, did show that it had no thought of falling below 3.90.
Last night, a former ambassador stated the following words during a live broadcast; “I have never seen, since the last 40-50 years, both the US and Europe act together against a Turkish leader”. I wasn’t quite sure if he said those things as an assessment or a critique. If this was an assessment, however, it clearly shows that it is true to some extent.
Interestingly, ruling party in Turkey keeps making headlines in American and European media while American and European leaders do not stop keeping in touch with President Erdoğan. They call each other frequently. The post-phone call statements; however, do not seem to match each other, from time to time.
According to Turkish government, Trump has recently stated that America won’t be providing weapons to PYD. However, the White House added, “There are other ways we can offer support to PYD”. A bit tricky situation for political analysts…
Honestly, Iran sanctions trial won’t be any good for the improvement of bilateral relations between Turkey and the US. The fact that Turkey has recently bought S-400 air defence missiles from Russia would clearly escalate tensions with NATO. Turkey’s steps however might also be considered a stance/a reaction against the “isolation” policy of America and Europe. At this stage, I fear that a disagreement between those countries, which we have close trade ties with and act together for dealing with many issues, might cause trouble in the medium-term.
Given the things you read in this report today were written according to the rules of diplomatic courtesy, now I’d like to make a clearer interpretation on the matter. 2018 will be quite tough for a large part of the world, but it will be “incredibly tough” for Turkey.
