
Turkish Cenbank Gross Reserves Rose $7.5 Bln Last Week, Traders and Data Say
Türkiye's central bank continued to buy foreign currency last week, lifting its total reserves by $7.5 billion, bankers' calculations from data show on Tuesday.
Market turmoil erupted in March over the detention and jailing of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival, triggering a policy pivot including selling some $57 billion to protect the market stability and a hike in the bank's key interest rate last month.
Bankers' calculations, based on preliminary data, also showed that the central bank's net reserves rose by $8 billion last week.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Turkey's main opposition leader under investigation
Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the head of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) on charges of threatening and insulting Istanbul's chief prosecutor, adding to a broad crackdown on the opposition. The clampdown is centered on Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan 's main political rival and leads him in some polls. The CHP's Imamoglu was jailed in March pending trial on corruption charges, which he denies. The Istanbul prosecutor's office said in a statement that it launched the probe into CHP leader Ozgur Ozel over comments he made about the chief prosecutor at a rally in Istanbul on Wednesday, criticizing the targeting of the opposition. CHP spokesman Deniz Yucel criticized the decision to open the investigation. 'We will not succumb to this system of lawlessness that you have created,' he said on X. Imamoglu's arrest in March triggered mass protests, economic turmoil and broad accusations of government influence over the judiciary and anti-democratic applications. The government denies the accusations and says the judiciary is independent. Since his arrest, authorities have detained dozens of CHP members, officials from the Istanbul municipality, and other CHP-run municipalities. Access to Imamoglu's X account was also blocked in Turkey this month.


Al Arabiya
3 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
‘Decade of the Family': As birthrates fall, Turkey's government steps in
Alarmed by the fact that Turkish women are having fewer children, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has moved to tackle falling birthrates -- 'a threat greater than war' -- through policies designed to bring on the babies. After declaring 2025 Turkey's 'Year of the Family', Erdogan last month announced 2026 would mark the start of the 'Decade of the Family.' But his pleas for women to have at least three children and offers of financial incentives for newlyweds may not be enough as Turkey grapples with a deepening economic crisis. Official figures show Turkey's birthrate has fallen from 2.38 children per woman in 2001 to 1.48 in 2025 -- lower than in France, Britain or the United States -- in what Erdogan has denounced as 'a disaster.' During his 22 years in office -- first as premier, then president -- fertility rates have dropped sharply in this country of 85 million people. 'People might be hesitant to have children in this chaotic and uncertain environment. Additionally, child support is almost non-existent and education has become the most expensive sector,' said retired academic and feminist activist Berrin Sonmez. No education, no jobs High inflation has raged in Turkey for the past four years, forcing education costs up by more than 70 percent over the past year, official data shows. In the first quarter, unemployment stood at 8.2 percent, or 15 percent among 15- to 24-year-olds. Researchers with the DISK union say the real rate is 28.5 percent, and 37.5 percent among young people. But the government seems bent on fixing other issues, such as Turkey's record number of elective Caesarean births -- which stands at 61 percent, rising to 78 percent in some private hospitals. In April, Turkey banned C-section births at private healthcare facilities 'without a medical justification.' The procedure generally limits the number of pregnancies to two, or a maximum of three. C-sections: the 'safer option' Medical professionals say the high number of C-sections is linked to the rampant privatization of the healthcare system since the late 1990s. C-sections are more time-efficient for medical staff -- 30 minutes, versus 12 hours for a traditional delivery -- and lower the risk of legal action over complications, said Hakan Coker, an Istanbul-based gynecologist. 'Ultimately, C-sections are perceived as a guarantee of safety' for doctors and women alike, he said. Dr Harika Bodur, an obstetrician at a major Istanbul hospital, said some women ask for a C-section 'at the first appointment for fear of pain.' 'If you refuse, they'll go elsewhere,' she said. The fear is rooted in a lack of education and discomfort with sexuality, she said. The health ministry says it is now 'aiming for a target rate of 20 percent (of C-sections) by encouraging normal childbirth through education of future parents.' But the word 'normal' has raised hackles -- notably last month when a football team carried a huge banner promoting vaginal births onto the pitch before a top-flight clash, which read: 'Natural birth is normal.' Women as 'birthing machines' 'If I don't want to, I won't have any children at all, it's my right,' said 23-year-old chemistry student Secil Murtazaoglu. Feminist activist Sonmez said women were subjected to huge pressures, both within their families and within society, when the much more pressing issue was the need to tackle gender violence. 'We must start by combating violence against women: such policies have been eradicated and protections seriously undermined,' she said.


Asharq Al-Awsat
19 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Türkiye to Press Allies for Access to EU Defense Funds
Türkiye will press European allies which plan to sharply ramp up their defense spending to ease restrictions that now require most of that money to be spent in the EU, Defense Minister Yasar Guler told Reuters on Wednesday ahead of a NATO meeting. In written answers to questions from Reuters, Guler also said Türkiye hopes a potential meeting between Donald Trump and Tayyip Erdogan will finally yield progress in lifting US sanctions that expelled Türkiye from the F-35 jet program. Guler said Türkiye , which has the second biggest army in NATO after the United States, has advanced capabilities in areas such as drones, which would be valuable to its allies as they plan major new spending on defense. "Allies need to spend not only more, but also smarter – and there is a need for more cooperation than ever before," Guler said when asked about Trump's call on the alliance to ramp up defense spending to target 5% of output. Many European nations have announced plans for major increases in defense spending. The EU itself, driven by fears of a Russian attack and doubts about US security commitments, has approved creating a 150 billion-euro ($170 billion) EU arms fund to boost the defense industry, labelled the SAFE scheme. But it mandates that 65% of projects are funded by firms in the bloc, the broader European Economic Area, or Ukraine. Guler said such restrictions would exclude non-EU countries like Türkiye from Europe's defense and security architecture, which he said was "an issue that cannot be discussed only within the EU". Türkiye wants to "build the security of the future together" with the EU, and would continue to work with "open-minded and visionary European allies within or outside SAFE," he said, specifically listing drones, air defenses, naval systems, armoured vehicles and land platforms, electronic warfare and radar systems, ammunition and rocket systems. Greece, Türkiye's longstanding adversary, has demanded Ankara lift a lift a 30-year old war threat over territorial waters to be permitted to access EU defense funds. Guler said such demands were a mistake, amounting to "involving multilateral platforms in bilateral disputes". Ankara's defense cooperation with its NATO allies has been hampered in recent years by US sanctions imposed over a Turkish decision to buy Russian S-400 air defense systems, which resulted in Türkiye's expulsion from the US-led F-35 program as both a buyer and manufacturer of the advanced jets. Erdogan has expressed confidence that Trump, with whom he has good personal ties, will find a solution that relieves Türkiye's defense industry of the sanctions. A potential meeting between Erdogan and Trump, and the close ties between them, can "breathe new life" into bilateral defense ties and help lift the sanctions, Guler said. Although Ankara would not give up the S-400s, lifting the sanctions would let it consider returning to the F-35 project, he said.