Erdogan prepares to go Rambo against cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin

“Recep Tayyip Erdogan – Caricature” by DonkeyHotey is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Key takeaways:

Turkish government has no plans to regulate or legalize decentralized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
The analogy appears as President Recep Tayyib Erdogan speaks openly against cryptocurrencies.

YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan said that the government is at war with cryptocurrencies and has no intention of embracing them.

During a national youth meeting with university students from 81 Turkish provinces, Erdogan answered his opinion on cryptocurrencies. One of the students mentioned the digital Turkish Lira platform, which the country’s central bank recently established.

He asked Erdogan that “With this decision, is Turkey planning to open up to cryptocurrencies?” Erdogan said that Turkey is not planning to embrace cryptocurrencies.

“We have a separate war, a separate struggle against them,”
he said.

Erdogan said that “Turkey will continue with our currency,” which he believes is part of the “national identity.”

In the same meeting, Binali Yildirim, Turkey’s former Prime Minister and AK Party Deputy Chairman, talked about cryptocurrencies.

He said that as cryptocurrency opens the door to grievances, it needs strict control. He said that “sales are made for a kind of imaginary future.” adding that…

“…for preventing these abuses and mistakes in the future, it may be necessary to make some arrangements as a state, as a government.”

Turkey stance on cryptocurrencies

Turkey is trying to become a blockchain hub, but it’s not a big fan of cryptocurrencies.

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) and three local technology companies are launching a “Digital Turkish Lira Collaboration Platform” to research, develop, and test new digital currencies.

The proposal for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is part of Erdogan’s government plan to enable the CBRT to have monetary control over cryptocurrency usage, which is growing. Recently Turks have shown more interest in cryptocurrencies as a way to fight the Lira volatility.

In April, the Turkish central bank banned cryptocurrency payments. It mentioned the high volatility, regulatory uncertainty, and crimes as part of the reason for the ban. And now It seems that the Turkish government is trying to demonstrate the supremacy of the digital Lira by declaring war against other cryptocurrencies.