Turkey

Having soared to fresh 13 year highs in a quiet overnight session on thin liquidity due to the US Thanksgiving holiday, which sent the USDJPY just shy of 114 and the Yuan to 6.96, the dollar pared back its weekly advance with modest profit taking after traders wondered if the rally has gotten "too stretched." European shares were fractionally higher, with Asian stocks and US equity futures rising and both the Dow Jones and the S&P set for new all time highs.

Authored by Mustafa Akyol via Strategic-culture.org,

It was another painful day for Turkish Lira longs.

Earlier today, in response to the broader USD strength overnight, the Turkish currency dropped to new record lows, sliding to 3.4214 and losing 10% of its value since the central bank's last meeting in October, before the Turkey’s central bank unexpectedly raised its one-week repurchase and overnight lending rates for the first time in almost three years, prompted by the crashing lira's impact on inflation, overriding Erdogan's recurring demands for lower borrowing costs.

Submitted by Peter Korzun via Strategic-Culture.org,

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on November 20 that Turkey did not need to join the European Union «at all costs». Instead, it could become part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), or Shanghai Pact. The Turkish leader said he had already discussed the idea with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Turkey may be about to legalise the rape of young girls under the of 15, as Parliament consider passing a controversial new bill.  Turkey’s governing party has left MPs furious after proposing a bill that will pardon thousands of existing child rapists if the perpetrator marries his victim. It will also allow would-be rapists to rape young girls in the future, as long as they marry them. Telegraph.co.uk reports: The controversial proposal would apply to statutory rape cases without use of “force, threat, or any other restriction on consent” involving girls aged 15 or younger.