Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may be debatable, but at least in terms of gold the head of state has an opinion which will please dealers in this country: In a speech Erdogan called on his countrymen to convert their foreign exchange into gold.
However, the surprising recommendation is not a covert campaign for gold traders, but has been assessed by the portal “Zero Hedge” to have a domestic political background: Foreign currencies should be exchanged in Turkish lira and gold in order to strengthen the country’s currency. For the Lira was last under massive pressure and has lost a significant portion of their value.
In the television address, which was broadcasted in early December, Erdogan called for exchange actions supposed to increase the values of the lira and gold. The statements are in line with the rest of the foreign exchange policy of Turkey, which has appeared massively in the gold market for years and are hoarding large amounts of the crisis protective metal. In 2016, Turkey has imported about 106 tons of gold and their demand for gold has more than doubled.
