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Global finance watchdog adds Turkey to grey list

Amid high inflation, widespread youth unemployment and deepening poverty, the country's economic situation is looking increasingly grim

People line up to exchange money at a currency exchange office on Oct. 14, 2021, in Istanbul, Turkey.
People line up to exchange money at a currency exchange office on Oct. 14, 2021, in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkey's lira dropped to a record low against the US dollar, falling as much as 1.2% to 9.18 after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed three central bank monetary policy committee members. — Chris McGrath/Getty Images

The global financial watchdog known as the Financial Action Task Force, or FATF, announced today that Turkey has been added to its “grey list” of countries subject to heightened scrutiny over terrorist financing, money laundering and institutional corruption. The move will further dent Turkey’s spotty image and likely further weaken the lira, which had already dipped to a fresh low today following a bigger than expected 2% rate cut by the central bank. Coming on top of ever-louder, anti-Western growls from the country’s authoritarian — and increasingly erratic — president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey is beginning to look more like Iran than a valued NATO member.

The FATF said despite “some progress across all areas of concern,” Turkey had “serious issues.”

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