Turkey Turns to Qatar to Stem Economic Nosedive

As Turkey’s economy continues to nosedive, its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has turned to Qatar for help in preventing a total collapse. Turkey’s currency has dropped 40% in recent months. Erdogan hosted Qatar’s leader, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on Wednesday and received a pledge of $15 billion dollars in direct investments for Turkey. Neither party was willing to discuss the specifics of the various investments the deal entails. The Qatari bailout is seen by some as payback for the staunch support it received last year when Qatar’s neighbors in the Gulf sought to isolate it, cutting-off all economic intercourse after alleging its support for terrorism. Meanwhile, a Turkish appeals court has refused to order the release of American Evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson who is being held on charges related to terrorism. Brunson is widely believed to be a symbolic figure through which Erdogan is expressing his angst with the United States and in particular, the refusal by American courts to extradite a Turkish cleric living in Pennsylvania whom Erdogan believes was behind a failed coup d’état.