Following a call by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to boycott American electronics, a district municipality in Ankara has stopped issuing business licenses to US companies including Starbucks, McDonald’s and Burger King, the Ahval news website reported on Wednesday.
According to the report, the city council of the Keçiören Municipality, which is run by Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), unanimously voted to stop issuing business licenses to American companies. Mayor Mustafa Ak said hoped the decision would inspire other municipalities to retaliate against the US in the “economic war.”
‘No indication Turkey considering IMF financial assistance’
Meanwhile, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) spokesperson said on Wednesday that there was no indication that Turkish authorities are considering asking for financial assistance from the Washington-based fund, as a row between the US and Turkey over the jailing of an American pastor continues, Reuters reported.
“In light of recent market volatility, the new administration will need to demonstrate a commitment to sound economic policies to promote macroeconomic stability and reduce imbalances, while ensuring full operational independence to the central bank to pursue its mandate of securing price stability,” said the spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The fund was monitoring the situation closely, the spokesperson added.
Turkey has been facing a currency crisis since its relations with the US administration were dramatically strained over a court decision to put American pastor Andrew Brunson under house arrest after almost two years in pretrial detention rather than release him as demanded by the US administration.
Following the court ruling, US President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence threatened to impose “large sanctions” on Turkey if Brunson were not freed.
After imposing economic sanctions on two Turkish ministers on Aug. 1 for their role in the detention of evangelical pastor Brunson, President Trump on Friday ramped up his sanctions on Turkey by doubling US tariffs on Turkish aluminum and steel imports to 20 percent and 50 percent, respectively.
Turkish President Erdoğan on Tuesday said Turkey would boycott electronics from the US in response to a currency crisis caused by US sanctions imposed over the detention of Brunson.
“We will boycott American electronics. They may have an iPhone, but there’s always Samsung. We have our Venüs Vestel. We will put that into practice so they can understand what we do and what we can do,” Erdoğan said. (SCF with turkishminute.com)
The post Turkish municipality stops licensing Starbucks, McDonald’s, Burger King appeared first on Stockholm Center for Freedom.
from Stockholm Center for Freedom https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-municipality-stops-licensing-starbucks-mcdonalds-burger-king/
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