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Aug. 13, 2018 3:30 p.m. ET

ISTANBULTurkish authorities are blaming fake news for the recent plunge in the national currencys value, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemning terrorists haunting social networks and disseminating alleged disinformation.

The lira shed as much as 10% on Monday and is down more than 40% this year on heightening concerns that the country wont be able to cope with rising borrowing costs and has yet to resolve a protracted dispute with its longtime military ally, the U.S.

Mr. Erdogan, who gained vastly expanded executive powers when he won re-election in June, has largely pinned the blame on the U.S., accusing Washington of engineering an economic war on Turkey.

But on Monday, though, he redirected his ire.

There are economic terrorists on social media, Mr. Erdogan told an audience of Turkish ambassadors gathered in Ankaras presidential palace. They are a genuine network of treason.

The president said spiteful social-network posts had been spread in a bid to cause panic by saying authorities were preparing to limit bank withdrawals. The government said it had no plan to introduce capital controls.

Also on Monday, Turkeys Interior Ministry said it would take legal action against owners of 346 social-media accounts identified as having been used to express views that had harmed the lira, the state-run news service, Anadolu Agency, reported.

Free-speech activists said Mr. Erdogans accusations had reinforced their fear that the government aimed at stifling dissent.

We are concerned that the legitimate role of critical journalism is being targeted, said Erol Onderoglu, the representative of Reporters Without Borders in Turkey.

Some economists and analysts said part of Turkeys woes stem from widespread and growing investor aversion to emerging markets. But they say the country has problems of its own, notably a central bank they no longer deem capable of acting independently.

With the bulk of Turkish media in the hands of owners loyal to Mr. Erdogan, Turkish people have been exposed to few explanations other than Mr. Erdogans for the countrys financial difficulties .

On Monday, pro-government daily newspaper Star ran a banner headline saying: We saw what game was at play and we challenged it.

Write to David Gauthier-Villars at David.Gauthier-Villars@wsj.com

Read more:
Erdogan Shifts Blame for Turkey's Woes to Social Media

But a new election is needed to trigger those powers, and if Erdogan wins, Turkey will see an even more muscular strongman at its helm.

Pretty good. Erdogan is leading in the polls -- but in Turkish politics, nothing is a sure bet. Erdogan has some clear advantages. A government crackdown on the media following an attempted coup in 2016 has meant that Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) dominate the airwaves and get the most ink. Vocal critics have been imprisoned, and the President has appointed pro-government officials to the election commission.

What are the key issues?

The economy: Erdogan has long relied on his economic achievements to win elections, but that won't be so easy this time around. The Turkish lira has hit all-time lows, inflation is on the rise and the robust growth of recent years is expected to slow dramatically.

The Kurds: The Turkish army has been fighting the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), deemed a terrorist organization, for nearly four decades. Erdogan's AKP has ruled out returning to a peace process that collapsed in 2015, and the Turkish military, meanwhile, has intensified assaults on PKK strongholds in Iraq's Qandil Mountains ahead of the vote.

At the same time, Turkey's Kurdish population, particularly in the southeast, is a vital constituency for Erdogan. Their vote tends to split between his AKP and the pro-Kurdish HDP. But the AKP's recent alliance with the nationalist MHP, which takes a hard line against the Kurds, could alienate this key base. If the HDP gains at least 10% of the vote, it will pass the threshold needed to give it a presence in parliament, and that could mean it deprives the AKP of its parliamentary majority.

Syria: The large number of Syrian refugees living in Turkey has also become an election issue. Several parties have said they hope to send Syrians back to their country, though they are careful to say they will do it only after the war is over and they emphasize the importance of peace-building there. Turkey's involvement in the Syrian war, as well as its continued fight with the PKK, has inspired acts of terrorism in the country in recent years, another concern for voters.

Who's in the running for president?

Turkey's story for more than a decade now has centered around Erdogan and his unwavering popularity. Unlike previous elections, this time there are more candidates to choose from, most of whom are promising to preserve Turkey's parliamentary system.

Muharrem Ince

Leading the pack against Erdogan is Muharrem Ince, candidate for the main opposition, center-left Republican People's Party (CHP). He is promising a more independent judiciary, greater personal freedoms and an end to excessive government spending.

He is known for his fiery speeches and for being tough on Erdogan's AKP, bringing a charisma that had been sorely lacking in the CHP for years. His campaign rallies have been colorful -- he is often seen singing and dancing to traditional songs, and he once rode a bicycle on stage as a jibe against Erdogan's excessive spending.

Meral Aksener

Her campaign has been about countering what she has described as AKP's mismanagement of the economy. If she won, Aksener would be the first female president, but not Turkey's first female head of state -- Tansu Ciller was elected Turkey's first prime minister in 1993.

The HDP's Selahattin Demirtas is leading his campaign from prison, where he has been remanded since November 2016 following the failed coup, for what his party calls politically-motivated terror allegations. He is accused of supporting the outlawed PKK. Members of parliament from Demirtas' party have also been jailed or removed from their posts due to alleged terror affiliations.

Demirtas' campaign has focused on improving quality and diversity, and his only public appearance in the campaign period was a 10-minute pre-recorded speech on Turkish state broadcaster TRT, which every candidate technically has the legal right to use. In his speech, a visibly skinnier Demirtas called on Turkish voters to unite against Erdogan, and also criticized the President for threatening to bring back capital punishment after the failed coup.

After the vote, the position of prime minister will be dissolved and all its powers transferred to the president, a role that had traditionally been ceremonial.

One key change is that the president will have the power to issue decrees -- in other words, create laws unilaterally. Erdogan has been able to issue decrees over the past two years only because his government placed the country in a state of emergency following the failed coup. But he may not be able to keep the country in that state for much longer, so the new system would give him a way to retain that power, should he be reelected.

Turkey's executive government will look a lot like the United States'. The president, for example, will have the power to appoint cabinet ministers directly. In the past, only members of parliament were allowed to hold cabinet positions.

The president will also be able to appoint a number of officials to a supreme court board, which is in charge of selecting judges and prosecutors. Controlling that body could mean influence over the courts.

Excerpt from:
Turkey elections explained: Could Erdogan really lose? - CNN

Unilateral actions against Turkey by the United States will undermine American interests and force Turkey to look for other friends and allies.

By Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Mr. Erdogan is the president of Turkey.

ANKARA, Turkey For the past six decades, Turkey and the United States have been strategic partners and NATO allies. Our two countries stood shoulder to shoulder against common challenges during the Cold War and in its aftermath.

Over the years, Turkey rushed to Americas help whenever necessary. Our military servicemen and servicewomen shed blood together in Korea. In 1962, the Kennedy administration was able to get the Soviets to remove missiles from Cuba by removing Jupiter missiles from Italy and Turkey. In the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, when Washington counted on its friends and allies to strike back against evil, we sent our troops to Afghanistan to help accomplish the NATO mission there.

Yet the United States has repeatedly and consistently failed to understand and respect the Turkish peoples concerns. And in recent years, our partnership has been tested by disagreements. Unfortunately, our efforts to reverse this dangerous trend proved futile. Unless the United States starts respecting Turkeys sovereignty and proves that it understands the dangers that our nation faces, our partnership could be in jeopardy.

On July 15, 2016, Turkey came under attack by members of a shadowy group led by Fethullah Gulen, who leads his organization, officially described by my government as Fethullah Terrorist Organization, from a compound in rural Pennsylvania. The Gulenists tried to stage a bloody coup against my government. On that night, millions of ordinary citizens rushed to the streets out of a sense of patriotism, similar to what the American people undoubtedly experienced after Pearl Harbor and the Sept. 11 attacks.

Two hundred and fifty one innocent people, including Erol Olcok, my longtime campaign manager and dear friend, and his son, Abdullah Tayyip Olcok, paid the ultimate price for our nations freedom. Had the death squad, which came after me and my family, been successful, I would have joined them.

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More views on the United Statess relationship with Turkey

The Turkish people expected the United States to unequivocally condemn the attack and express solidarity with Turkeys elected leadership. It did not. The United States reaction was far from satisfactory. Instead of siding with Turkish democracy, United States officials cautiously called for stability and peace and continuity within Turkey. To make matters worse, there has been no progress regarding Turkeys request for the extradition of Fethullah Gulen under a bilateral treaty.

Another source of frustration relates to the partnership between the United States and the P.Y.D./Y.P.G., the Syrian branch of the P.K.K., an armed group that is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Turkish citizens since 1984 and that is designated a terrorist group by the United States. According to estimates by the Turkish authorities, Washington used 5,000 trucks and 2,000 cargo planes to deliver weapons to the P.Y.D./Y.P.G in recent years.

My government has repeatedly shared our concerns with American officials about their decision to train and equip the P.K.K.s allies in Syria. Unfortunately, our words have fallen on deaf ears, and American weapons ended up being used to target civilians and members of our security forces in Syria, Iraq and Turkey.

In recent weeks, the United States has taken a series of steps to escalate tensions with Turkey, citing the arrest by the Turkish police of an American citizen, Andrew Brunson, on charges of aiding a terrorist organization. Instead of respecting the judicial process, as I urged President Trump to do in our many meetings and conversations, the United States issued blatant threats against a friendly nation and proceeded to impose sanctions on several members of my cabinet. This decision was unacceptable, irrational and ultimately detrimental to our longstanding friendship.

To convey that Turkey does not respond to threats, we retaliated by sanctioning multiple American officials. Moving forward, we will abide by the same principle: Attempting to force my government to intervene in the judicial process is not in line with our Constitution or our shared democratic values.

Turkey has established time and again that it will take care of its own business if the United States refuses to listen. In the 1970s, the Turkish government stepped in to prevent massacres of ethnic Turks by the Greek Cypriots despite Washingtons objections. More recently, Washingtons failure to grasp the seriousness of our concerns regarding national security threats emanating from Northern Syria resulted in two military incursions that cut off the so-called Islamic States access to NATOs borders and removed the Y.P.G. militants from the city of Afrin. As in those cases, we will take necessary steps to protect our national interests.

At a time when evil continues to lurk around the world, unilateral actions against Turkey by the United States, our ally of decades, will only serve to undermine American interests and security. Before it is too late, Washington must give up the misguided notion that our relationship can be asymmetrical and come to terms with the fact that Turkey has alternatives. Failure to reverse this trend of unilateralism and disrespect will require us to start looking for new friends and allies.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the president of Turkey.

An earlier version of this article misstated details on the placement of Jupiter missiles in Turkey. In 1962, the Kennedy administration negotiated the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba by removing Jupiter missiles already based in Italy and Turkey. It is not true that during the Cuban missile crisis, Turkey agreed to the initial placement of the Jupiter missiles.

Link:
Opinion | Erdogan: How Turkey Sees the Crisis With the U.S ...

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan denied on Saturday that Turkey is in a currency crisis, dismissing a plunge in the lira as fluctuations which have nothing to do with economic fundamentals.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan talks to media in the Black Sea city of Ordu, Turkey August 11, 2018. Cem Oksuz/Presidential Palace/Handout via REUTERS

Speaking after U.S. President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum imports, Erdogan described Fridays 18 percent fall in the lira to a record low as the missiles of an economic war waged against Turkey.

Erdogan said those who plotted against Turkey in a failed coup attempt in July 2016 were now trying to target the country through its economy, and pledged to fight back. He did not name any countries.

Those who cant compete with us on the ground have brought online fictional currency plots that have nothing to with the realities of our country, production and real economy, Erdogan told a provincial meeting of his AK Party in the Black Sea coastal town of Rize.

The country is neither crumbling, nor being destroyed or bankrupt or in a crisis, he said, and added that the way out of the currency plot was to boost production and minimize interest rates.

The Turkish lira has lost about 40 percent this year alone, largely over worries about Erdogans influence over the economy, his repeated calls for lower interest rates in the face of high inflation and deteriorating ties with the United States.

The two governments have been at odds over a wide range of topics - from diverging interests in Syria, to Turkeys ambition to buy Russian defense systems, and the case of evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson, who is on trial in Turkey on terrorism charges.

Erdogan also appeared to allude to a deadline for handing over Brunson, although he did not name the United States as having set any such deadline or say precisely when it might have expired. (They are) threatening, saying you will send (him) until 6 pm ... This is not some random country. This is Turkey, he said.

A Turkish delegation visited Washington for talks this week but left with no signs of a breakthrough.

After almost 20 months in a Turkish jail, Brunson was moved to house arrest in July by a court. Since then Trump and his vice president Mike Pence have repeatedly called for his release while Ankara said the decision was up to the courts.

Washington in response sanctioned two Turkish ministers and Trump on Friday announced it was doubling the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Turkey, saying relations with Ankara were not good at this time.

An important emerging market, Turkey borders Iran, Iraq and Syria and has been mostly pro-Western for decades. Financial upheaval risks further destabilizing an already volatile region.

A meeting on Friday unveiling a new economic approach by Turkeys finance minister Berat Albayrak, Erdogans son-in-law, did little to offer support for the free-falling lira as investors sought concrete steps such as an interest rate increase to restore confidence.

I am asking you. What possible reason could there be behind the lira which was at 2.8 against dollar in July 15, 2016 to slide below 6 yesterday? During this period, Turkey has set records in its exports, production and employment, Erdogan said.

He repeated a long-standing plan to shift to trading in national currencies and said Turkey was preparing for such a step with Russia, China and Ukraine.

He also repeated his call to Turks to sell their dollar and euro savings to shore up the lira. If there are dollars under your pillow, take these out... Immediately give these to the banks and convert to Turkish lira and by doing this, we fight this war of independence and the future, he said.

He also said it was a pity that Washington chose Brunson over Turkey, its partner in NATO, and in an opinion piece in the New York Times, he warned the United States that Ankara had other alternatives as allies.

Washington must give up the misguided notion that our relationship can be asymmetrical, he said in the opinion piece.

Turkey, home to the Incirlik air base which is used by U.S. forces in the Middle East, has been a NATO member since the 1950s. It is host to a critical part of the Western alliances missile defense system against Iran.

In a separate opinion piece in the pro-government newspaper Daily Sabah, Erdogans spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Turkeys efforts to solve the crisis with diplomatic methods had been dismissed by the Trump administration, warning that the U.S. runs the risk of losing Turkey as an ally.

The entire Turkish public is against U.S. policies that disregard Turkeys legitimate security demands. Threats, sanctions and bullying against Turkey will not work, he said.

Editing by Clelia Oziel and David Stamp

Read more:
Erdogan says U.S. 'wrong' to threaten Turkey after Trump ...

Steps taken by the United States about pastor Andrew Brunson were not suitable for a strategic partner and were disrespectful to Turkey, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.

Washington this week imposed sanctions on two Turkish ministers over the case of Andrew Brunson, a US pastor on trial in Turkey accused of backing terrorism.

Speaking to the womens wing of his AK Party, Erdogan said he gave orders for assets in Turkey belonging to the US interior and justice ministers to be frozen if they have any. FULL STORY

On Wednesday, the US Treasury Department on hit Turkeys justice and interior ministers with sanctions over the case of an American pastor being tried on terror charges.

We believe hes a victim of unfair and unjust attention by the government of Turkey, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told journalists, referring to Andrew Brunson, an American pastor at the center of a bitter diplomatic spat between NATO allies.

Brunson, who led a Protestant church in the Aegean city of Izmir, was placed under house arrest last week after nearly two years in jail. READ MORE

Last Update: Saturday, 4 August 2018 KSA 16:19 - GMT 13:19

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Erdogan: US actions regarding pastor Brunson disrespectful to ...