The Turkish lira weakened to a fresh record low again against the US dollar amid mounting geopolitical risks in the region and after Wahington said it was “deeply concerned” at reports Turkey planned to test a Russian air defence system. The lira depreciated by 0.9% on Thursday to 7.8692/USD, compounding the currency’s losses this year to more than 24%, the second-biggest slide among emerging-market peers after Brazil’s real.
Ankara plans to test Russian S-400 air defence system it purchased from Moscow despite complaints from the US and other NATO allies. At the same time, Turkey is opposing Russia in the Armenia-Azerbaijan military conflict over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey is also pushing its own agenda in the Mediterranean, putting it at odds with European Union members Greece and Cyprus.
