Erdogan looks to Putin to ease foreign currency woes
An extraordinary uptick in capital flows of unknown origin to Turkey has left many wondering whether Russian money could be involved.
Turkey’s energy import bill — standing at $83.5 billion over 12 months in July — is a major factor behind its gaping current account deficit. And with Russia being Turkey’s main energy supplier, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems to have pinned hope on his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to help ease Turkey’s foreign exchange shortfall, wary that the Turkish lira might nosedive anew ahead of elections next year.
Erdogan’s political opponents are suspicious that his government could seal opaque deals with Moscow to secure fresh financial means or defer the bills of energy imports to after the elections, due in June 2023 at the latest.
