Page 24 - TURKRptOct19

Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) said on September 20. The decline followed the gain to 58.3 points seen in August.
As Turkey fell into recession, the index hit 55.3 points in May, the lowest level recorded since the data series was started in 2004.
A confidence level below 100 reflects a pessimistic outlook, while any reading above 100 reflects optimism.
With high inflation now officially falling at quite a clip in Turkey, the central bank, urged on by the Erdogan administration, has embarked on a cycle of aggressive monetary easing. Officials hope the country’s recovery from recession will pick up as banks step up lending at cheaper rates.
2.7 Politics - shorts
There is bipartisan support in the US Congress to impose further sanctions on Turkey under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA. But Trump has so far not signed up for sanctions against Turkey.
Turkey is weighing up the possibility of buying Russian Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter jets as an alternative to US F-35s, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said following talks in Moscow and a visit to an air show with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
As things stand, Nato member Turkey remains indefinitely frozen out of the F- 35 development programme and its order for around 100 of the aircraft will not be fulfilled in response to Ankara’s decision to go ahead with the deployment of Russian S-400 advanced missile defence systems—which the US says are a threat to the performance data of the F-35, the world’s most high-tech and expensive fighter jet.
Erdogan claims personal bond with Trump could resolve S-400 crisis and open way to Patriot missiles purchase. Erdogan said in an interview with Reuters on September 13 that he will discuss buying US Patriot missiles with President Donald Trump this month.
He claimed his personal bond with the US leader could overcome a crisis caused by Ankara buying Russian S-400 missile defence systems in July.
A Turkish court on September 18 ruled that US consulate employee Metin Topuz must remain in jail while his trial on espionage charges continues. The next trial hearing is scheduled for December 11.
Topuz has been in custody for nearly two years. He serves as a Turkish translator and fixer for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) at the US consulate in Istanbul. The US has said that he is innocent of all charges.
Topuz is charged with espionage and links to the network of self-exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom the US has refused to extradite to Turkey following claims from the Erdogan administration that he plotted and orchestrated the failed coup attempt of July 2016.
He is accused of being in frequent contact with officers who led a 2013 corruption probe in Turkey. The government has described that probe as amounting to a “judicial coup attempt” by Gulen’s network. Topuz has denied the charges, saying he did not determine with whom he came into contact through his work.
Topuz’s arrest prompted Turkey and the US to halt visa processes temporarily.
24 TURKEY Country Report October 2019 www.intellinews.com