ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday his country will boycott U.S.-made electronic goods amid a diplomatic spat that has helped trigger a Turkish currency crisis.
Showing no signs of backing down in a standoff with the U.S., Erdogan suggested that Turkey would stop procuring U.S.-made iPhones and buy Korean Samsung or Turkish-made Vestel instead.
He said: “If they have the iPhone, there is Samsung elsewhere. We have Vestel.”
It was unclear how Erdogan intended to enforce the boycott.
Erdogan also renewed a call for Turks to convert their dollars into the Turkish lira, to help strengthen the currency.
The Turkish lira has nosedived in value in the past week over concerns about Erdogan’s economic policies and after the United States slapped sanctions on Turkey angered by the continued detention of an American pastor.
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