If the government balks, the currency slips. In Turkey, the scandals engulfing Recep Tayyip Erdogan's executive are also having an effect on the rate of the lira, which today reached a new all-time low against the dollar, at 2,1467.
Meanwhile, the Istanbul Stock Exchange also continues to record heavy losses. Also today, at the opening, the main Bist 100 index fell by 3,76%, after -2,33% yesterday and -4,2% on Wednesday.
These are the first financial effects of the Turkish Tangentopoli which has been making the Islamic government tremble since 17 December. The case concerns a corruption investigation involving a significant part of Erdogan's party, the AKP, and the Turkish business class. At the center of the investigations, some money transfers to Iran which are believed to have been intended to bribe some public officials in order to approve the construction of building works.
Last Saturday 16 people were arrested: among them was the son of the economy minister, that of the interior minister and the general manager of Halkbank, a large state-controlled bank. A few days earlier, another 49 people had been arrested, also accused in what has been called "the largest anti-corruption operation in the history of Turkey". The son of the environment minister was also arrested and released after questioning.
Erdogan called the operation a plot to bring down the government and responded by hitting the police: about 30 police officers were fired or removed from their posts. Three AKP leaders have been sent back to the party's disciplinary commission and risk expulsion for criticizing Erdogan, defending the investigation.
On December 25, three ministers resigned, immediately after Erdogan replaced seven, but he also announced that he had no intention of resigning. Meanwhile, street protests have started again. In the night between Wednesday and Thursday, hundreds of people demonstrated in the streets of Istanbul and other cities in the country, demanding the resignation of the prime minister. There were some clashes with the police, who reacted by throwing tear gas and using water cannons to disperse the crowd.
