Turkey

Authord by Burak Bekdil via The Gatestone Institute,

Turkey’s currency is being battered from all sides at the moment. In October 2017, the Lira fell sharply after both countries suspended bilateral visa processing in the latest US/Turkey diplomatic spat (although this was reversed in early November). Two weeks ago, it fell to a record low of 3.97 to the dollar, prompting the central bank to step in and cut borrowing limits for the banks. Last week we reported how the TRY was selling off on news flow from a trial in which a Turkish banker is accused by the US government of helping Iran to evade US sanctions via oil-for-gold deals.

Authored by Nauman Sadiq,

Recently, Pravda newspaper of Russia has reported that the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been suffering from serious sleep deprivation and that he was yawning and dozed off during a press conference with the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko while on a state visit to Kiev, and the video of the incident has been going viral over social media.

Authored by M K Bhadrakumar via The Asia Times,

As on the soccer field in his youth, so in a tumultuous political career spanning four decades: Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has consistently shown his mettle as a fighter who won’t be satisfied with anything short of total victory. 

But in the battle that is now unfolding around him, and which is besieging him, there isn’t going to be a winner.

Turkish President Erdogan's week just went from bad to worse...

After yesterday's Zarrab trial confirmed Erdogan was responsible for the secret gold trade with Iran that enabled the nation to evade US sanctions...

"What I’m saying is that the prime minister at that time period Recep Tayyip Erdogan and minister of the treasury ... had given orders to start doing this trade."