Erdogan calls for using Turkish lira instead of dollar

By Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday called on citizens to use the Turkish lira instead of the U.S. dollar in transactions.

"Let us not use dollars. Let's turn to Turkish lira," Erdogan told his party's parliamentary group.

"Let us show our nationalism," he urged.

He went on to say that those who trust in and invest in our country will continue to win.

Turkey's statistical authority announced that the country's inflation rate in October was 8.55%, down from 9.26% in September.

Under the new economic program announced in September, Turkey’s inflation rate target is 15.9% this year, 9.8% next year, and 6.0% in 2021.

He shed light on the national plan for self reliance in the defense sector.

"Besides the canisters of the bombs which are produced for our F-16s and drones, a new private sector investment, which aims to make explosives in our country will shortly begin," said Erdogan.

"So that, in addition to our air-to-ground weapons, our air-to-air weapons will be national and indigenous," he added.

The Turkish president noted that Turkey would plan to produce its national combat airplane in 5-6 years.

Turkey's defense and aviation industry is expected to beat its export record by the end of this year.

The defense and aviation industry left other sectors behind with its 10-month performance in exports worth of $2.14 billion.

The sector's exports soared 38% year-on-year in January-October.