The Turkish lira hit an all-time low on Monday morning at the opening of classes, after threats from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to expel ten Western diplomats mobilized in favor of the opponent Osman Kavala.
The national currency traded at over 9.80 pounds to the dollar before stabilizing around 9.73 dollars after 5 a.m., down 1.3% against the greenback.
Read also Erdogan hardens the standoff with the West
Ambassadors from ten countries - Canada, France, Finland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the United States - angered the leader of the state by calling on October 18 for a "
just and speedy settlement of the
Osman Kavala
affair
". This Turkish businessman and patron, who has become one of the regime's pet peeves, has been imprisoned for four years without trial, accused of wanting to destabilize Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Saturday that he had ordered the expulsion "
as quickly as possible
" of the ambassadors of these ten states.
At this stage, however, the countries concerned have not received any official notification.
A cabinet meeting is due to be held at 12:00 GMT in Ankara, after which these expulsions may or may not be confirmed.
Read alsoTurkey: the ambassadors of 10 countries, including France, declared "non grata"
The Turkish lira, which had already experienced a black week marked by the placement of Ankara on the "
gray list
" of the Gafi (Financial Action Task Force) for its failings in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism , has lost 24% of its value against the dollar since the start of the year.
According to economist Timothy Ash, analyst at BlueBay Asset Management, the expulsion of ten Western ambassadors by Ankara "
would hurt Erdogan
".
"
The ten [states] would reduce their trade with the Erdogan regime and investments in Turkey would suffer,
" he said.
