The Turkish Lira has fallen at least 5 per cent as reported by Reuters. This is a 3 week low against the US dollar. At the time of writing Turkish Lira was seen trading at 3.0300 Lira against the greenback.
Coup Chaos
Earlier Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced that the situation was under control and around 130 people have been put under arrest. There are reports of helicopters having been shot down over the Turkish Capital Ankara according to the BBC. The British Broadcaster also reports that the whereabouts of the Turkish military chief are currently not known.
Meanwhile in Istanbul, the Ataturk airport is reported to be under government control and the BBC says that flights will resume at 0600 local time. As events unfold the Guardian newspaper has said that there huge crowds in Istanbul which have been seen chanting President Erdoğan’s name.
The parliament in Turkey has been bombarded according to Guardian.
Broadcasters Off and On Air
CNN-Turk was closed down but has since then resumed service. The Turkish broadcaster TRT is also restoring services. President Erdoğan who had been away on a holiday has called the coup an “act of treason” in a hastily arranged news conference according to The Telegraph.
The Telegraph also reported that the Turkish military does not appear to be unified in the carrying out of the coup and it reported General Zekai Aksakalli, the commander of the military special forces as saying “Those who are attempting a coup will not succeed. Our people should know that we will overcome this.”
Economic repercussions
Turkey’s economy has been hit badly by the chaos unleashed in the neighbouring Syria and Iraq as well as its rocky relationship with its neighbour Russia, whose fighter jet the country shot down in November 2015. Russian tourists have only started trickling back into Turkey in July.