Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan has stated during a question and answer session in Mersin, Turkey, that he has no intention of embracing cryptocurrencies. According to Bloomberg HT, Erdogan told students from 81 provinces that his government is ‘at war’ against digital assets, as Turkey\u2019s central bank has absolutely no intentions of adopting it.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the contrary, we have a separate war, a separate fight against them. Therefore, we would never lend support to. Because we will move forward with our own currency that has its own identity,\u201d Erdogan commented. In fact, the Turkish President was vocal in his stance to bolster all appropriate monetary policies to strengthen its fiat, Lira. \u201cWe will not give them [cryptocurrencies] such a premium, nor will we. Because we will continue on our way with our money, which is our fundamental identity in this matter,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Erdogan\u2019s comments came after an attendee asked questions related to the newly launched Digital Turkish Lira Collaboration Platform, established by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT), which aims to adopt at some point blockchain and the usage of distributed ledgers in payment systems, without specifying a timeline. However, the tests of the platform are expected to be released at any time in 2022.<\/p>\n
Still, the CBRT clarified that they hadn\u2019t officially decided about launching a digital Turkish Lira.<\/p>\n
In the same Q&A session, Binali Y\u0131ld\u0131r\u0131m, Turkey\u2019s former Prime Minister and AK Party Deputy Chairman, commented on the cryptocurrencies\u2019 topic: \u201cCryptocurrency, unfortunately, also opens the door to grievances. Therefore, it is something that needs strict control. Sales are made for a kind of imaginary future, and after that, bad examples of it are presented to the victims. We saw what happened, but at your discretion, of course, to prevent these abuses and mistakes in the future, it may be necessary to make some arrangements as a state, as a government. Studies have already been started on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
In April, the Turkish central bank announced a ban on cryptocurrency payments. The bank mentioned that crypto transactions involve significant risks. In an official Gazzette, the CBRT said cryptocurrency assets could not be used as a mode of payment.<\/p>\n