Turkish opposition leader criticizes new measures to shore up lira

By Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s main opposition leader on Tuesday criticized new measures unveiled by the country's president to shore up the nation’s currency.

Saying that the measures “plunged Turkey into an even bigger vortex,” Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP), told his party's parliamentary group: “They took Turkey to an absurdly dark world where the poor fund those who have foreign currency in the bank."

Kilicdaroglu called on the government to preserve the Turkish lira’s good name.

"Protecting the reputation of the Turkish lira is the same as protecting the Edirne and Kars [provinces],” he said. “If the Turkish lira is crawling on the floor, we have a problem.”

The fresh measures come in the wake of price hikes and the Turkish lira’s value dropping as the government pursues its new economic model, which stresses opposition to high interest.

But on Tuesday the lira gained ground after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced new measures to protect lira investments and encourage citizens to put their faith in the lira.

On Tuesday morning, the lira/dollar exchange rate dropped to 11.2248 as of 9.30 local time (0630GMT), gaining almost 40% against the dollar since Monday evening.