Erdogan Says Turkish Government Is ‘At War’ with Cryptocurrencies

The Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan has stated during a question and answer session in Mersin, Turkey, that he has no intention of embracing Cryptocurrencies . According to Bloomberg HT, Erdogan told students from 81 provinces that his government is 'at war' with digital assets, as Turkey’s central bank has absolutely no intentions of adopting it.

“On the contrary, we have a separate war, a separate fight against them. Therefore, we would never lend support to it because we will move forward with our own currency that has its own identity,” Erdogan commented. In fact, the Turkish President was vocal in his stance to bolster all appropriate monetary policies to strengthen its fiat, Lira. “We will not give them [cryptocurrencies] such a premium, nor will we, because we will continue on our way with our money, which is our fundamental identity in this matter,” he added.

Erdogan’s comments came after an attendee asked questions related to the newly launched Digital Turkish Lira Collaboration Platform, established by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT), which aims to adopt Blockchain and the usage of distributed ledgers in payment systems at some point, without specifying a timeline. However, the tests of the platform are expected to be released in 2022.

Still, the CBRT clarified that they had not officially decided about launching a digital Turkish Lira.

Turkish Government Tough Stance against Cryptos

In the same Q&A session, Binali Yıldırım, Turkey’s former Prime Minister and AK Party Deputy Chairman, commented on the cryptocurrencies’ topic: “Cryptocurrency, unfortunately, also opens the door to grievances. Therefore, it is something that needs strict control. Sales are made for a kind of imaginary future, and after that, bad examples of it are presented to the victims. We saw what happened, but at your discretion, of course, to prevent these abuses and mistakes in the future, it may be necessary to make some arrangements as a state, as a government. Studies have already been started on that.”

In April, the Turkish central bank announced a ban on cryptocurrency payments. The bank mentioned that crypto transactions involve significant risks. In an official Gazzette, the CBRT said cryptocurrency assets could not be used as a mode of payment.