Turkey plans boycott of US electronics

Turkey on Tuesday announced that it will boycott American electronic devices amid tensions with Washington that have led to a historic Turkish currency crisis.

The Associated Press reported that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not clarify how the boycott would be enforced in an announcement of the measure.

“We will impose a boycott on U.S. electronic products. If they have iPhones, there is Samsung on the other side, and we have our own Vestel here,” he said in a speech to members of his AK Party, referring to a Turkish electronics firm, Reuters reported.

{mosads}

Vestel’s shares rose 5 percent after Erdogan’s speech, according to Reuters.

The Turkish lira has recently plummeted in value, falling to an all-time low of 7.24 to the dollar on Monday. Erdogan’s insistence on lower interest rates and a dispute with the U.S. has fueled the economic concerns.

The Trump administration doubled tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum imports last week and hit two of the country’s ministers with financial sanctions late last month over Turkey’s detainment of an American pastor.

Turkey has held Christian pastor Andrew Brunson in custody for nearly two years on espionage and terrorism charges tied to an attempted coup of Erdogan in 2016. The U.S. has decried the charges as false and has demanded Brunson be released.

Turkey has declined to release Brunson from custody, instead placing the pastor on house arrest for the duration of his trial.