Souring Turkey-US Ties: Erdogan calls for boycott of US electronics

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Europe

02:44

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced his country will boycott electronic products made by the United States. This comes amid a dispute regarding the detention of an American pastor and US-imposed sanctions. Meanwhile, Turkish and Russian officials met in Ankara to discuss US relations and the Syrian conflict. CGTN's Michal Bardavid has the details.

In a speech on Tuesday, Turkey's president stated his country would be taking action in response to U.S. sanctions imposed on Ankara.

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN TURKISH PRESIDENT "We will produce every product we are importing from abroad with foreign currency here and we will be the ones exporting these products. We will impose a boycott on U.S. electronic products. If they have iPhones, there is Samsung on the other side."

The move comes in retaliation to the U.S. announcement of tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminum imports. The U.S. had initially sanctioned two Turkish ministers for the detention of an American pastor, then added the tariffs.

Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said the U.S. had lost its credibility. He announced he would hold a teleconference with foreign investors on Thursday aiming to boost confidence in the Turkish lira which has lost more than 40 percent of its value this year.

The European Parliament Turkey Forum, a cross-party group, issued a statement supportive of Turkey, saying that "an economic destabilization of Turkey is in no one's interest."

MICHAL BARDAVID ANKARA "Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu here in Ankara where they both attended the 10th Ambassadors' conference. One key topic on the agenda for the two leaders was the Syrian conflict."

Turkish officials had recently indicated they would make the political effort to avoid a catastrophe in Idlib province - one of the largest remaining rebel-held enclaves. Lavrov pointed out terrorist groups in those regions were harassing Syrian and Russian positions.

SERGEY LAVROV RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER "As Turkish observation posts were opened in Idlib zone, the situation there was becoming more peaceful. But lately we have seen rather aggressive actions first of all from Nusra Front - firing at the Syrian army positions, multiple drones being sent daily to attack the Russian air base Hmeimim and many other provocative actions."

Lavrov also touched on the issue of the U.S. dollar and pointed out that he believes its role will decline in global trade. Both Turkish and Russian officials have said they are open to trading in national currencies, and not the U.S. dollar, and that talks were underway. Michal Bardavid, CGTN, Ankara.