Turkey to probe actions which target its economy

Istanbul prosecutor’s office launched an investigation into individuals suspected of involved in actions that threaten Turkey’s economic security, private broadcaster CNN Turk said today.

Turkey was targeted by an economic attack, the prosecutor’s office said, pledging to take legal action against all written and visual news as well as social media accounts which it deemed to serve this attack.

The interior ministry said 346 social media accounts that posted comments about the weakening of the lira “in a provocative way” have been identified since 7 August and legal action has been launched.

The Turkish lira was trading sharply lower today even after the country’s central bank announced measures to shore up the financial system amid warnings of a deepening crisis.

The lira fell by one fifth against the dollar last week alone.

Read: Turkey is a ‘target of economic war’, Erdogan says