, the tide seems to be turning in turkey. critics charge that president recep tayyip erdogan, used a failed coup d'etat, in 2016 as a means of consolidating his own power. power he says, is necessary to secure the state. great descision's producers, traveled to turkey, to examine the relationship with this key u.s. ally. - [man] thank you for joining us in great decisions. - [narrator] turkey. a partner in crisis, next, on great decisions. (epic music) great decisions is produced by the foreign policy association. in association with thompson reuters. funding for great decisions is provided by price waterhouse coopers llp. (ethnic music) turkey was once the seat of the powerful ottoman empire. which for centuries, spanned parts of north africa, europe, and the middle east. (explosion) after world war i, brought about the collapse of that empire, turkey sought to reinvent itself. - in direct aftermath of world war i, turkey was trying to rebuild. it had lost a huge portion of it's population, it was engaged in the process of t

is something that turkey does not desire plus turkey is a friend of russia. yes we are allies with the united states but we have vested interests in russia and as i said the peace process has been started with turkey and russia between prison that go on and put in so we want that process to continue without any hindrance and outside interference is just going to make things more complicated but i don't think any kind of intervention by the americans british or the fridge is going to make any real impact on the peace process it's will just be a ripple say force comes to worse an american or russian missiles to collide and syrian skies what would that mean for turkey's operation in north of syria. we'll it's a very undesirable situation because the american presence in. the north of syria their alliance with the kurdish militants the kurdish terrorist p.k. is undesirable for turkey so does not want this kind of american presence there what turkey wants is the americans to be a part of the peace process if they really desire but the way they are going on. they a

>> i think a large section of turkey society is the main driver of turkey's incursion. the referendum is vulnerability and he wants to boost his popularity. he wanted to tap in the strong anti-kurdish and anti-american sentiment in the country. the opposition for the kurdish hdp is behind and supports the operation. i'm not sure what they accomplish but i believe it's 80% according to public opinion polls 80% of turkish society supports the operation. so i think the main driver was policies. the anti-kurdish and anti-american sentiments are very important and they feed each other. we can talk about in detail the new dynamics in terms of turkey and the kurdish sentiment. we want to tap into those and basically boost his popularity. it's as much against the as a big is against the u.s. and the government's narrative so that proclaimed aim was to break the corporation between the u.s. and the ypj and to say it had nothing to do with the ypj. we are there to disrupt this relationship between the u.s. and the ypj. that makes the situation very complicated and i'm sure we wil

is turkey's largest trading partner by far and the biggest investor as well so a recession in turkey would be bad news for many european businesses. european banks especially those in france italy and spain would be hit hard if texas businesses couldn't pay back loans denominated in euro's dollars. that the economic trouble in turkey could also have serious political consequences some experts predict a new set in refugees and warn that domestic extremist groups could try to take advantage of the economic and political turmoil. that the president added one keeps blaming the west for his problems he threatened to turn toward authoritarian states like china and russia turkey might even decide to leave nato. what does economic and political instability in tefillin mean for the rest of the wild. how dangerous is an unstable turkey's i think it's very dangerous i agree the first to lose would be turkey true but maybe the second to lose would be europe it's very close we have to think geographically. there are three point five million syrian refugees in turkey turkish government as a swarm

how dependent is germany on turkey? there are hoststages there. turkey is a a nato power. and the refugee problem. bulent: that is right. the poll that was published last week shows the fear in this country is getting bigger about .he refugees and that helps anything happening in the country changes or influences what is going on and in germany too. peter: thank you to all three of you for being here. we have been talking -- we have been discussing "deniz yucel: what game is turkey playing?" i hope we have giving you plenty of food for thought. come again next week. bye-bye. ♪ announcer: opportunity. prpeperity. timimism. nation suffering increasiningy from the effects of extreme weather. what arere local people doing o cope? bolivia is estimated to own hope to the desperately poor nation? but first we go to italy, , whe human traffickers are forcing more and more women ininto prostitution.

on germany turkey is perhaps on nato membership how dependent is germany on turkey. there are hostages that is a big nato partner and of course the refugee problem and the refugee refugee problem is number one here is turkey's proposed population here in germany and as you know that's right but the poll that had been published by b. of last week it shows that they had the horror of the fear in this country is getting bigger and bigger about the refugees and that helps if the in this country so anything happen in the country change or what's grilli going to in the german you to. thank you very much for those thoughts thank you all for him for being here we've been discussing turkey dinners you jelly's free walk again is turkey playing was the question rest i will give you we've given you plenty of food for thought come back next week five by interest. oh oh . cards lawyer. car culture. hair. superman. superfood. dialogue car and. every journey begins with the first step and every language with the first word published in the. eco is in germany to learn german why not

relations with turkey of course a key nato ally turkey launched an offensive to secure its border and clear a friend of the y.p. g. the kurdish fighters it considers to be terrorists ankara says the group's an offshoot of the p.k. k. the kurdistan workers party with which turkey has been in conflict for three decades russia controls the airspace over threaten but the head of the turkish operation it withdrew hundreds of its soldiers from near the city kurdish fighters held after in six years ago after the syrian president bashar al assad soldiers left northern syria. let's go to our guests now joining us from istanbul mohammed yangon and affiliates of the political science department at the university of bill kent in bilin sell a muslim member of the diplomatic committee of tev demme the movement for democratic society that's an alliance bringing kurds together in northern syria and joining us from a so and it's me on skype is joshua landis director of the center for middle east studies at the university of oklahoma welcome to you all joshua coming to you first who is going to end up

more understanding from chancellor merkel to turkey sensitivities cooperation with turkey in the fight against terror more business cooperation. and to be more. optimistic about turkey's european prospects and what can chancellor merkel expect from president add one thing. she can expect from turkey true friendship true cooperation and everyone who knows presenter don would agree that if he makes a promise he keeps it so if she can. to make some promises in exchange of the promises that she will make of course then she knows she'll be delivered cartoonist akon will be watching the macula adwan meeting closely at the very least he says it should serve up enough material for some fresh set tire. now by sheer coincidence stretch of dawn is coming to berlin on the day that europe's football governing body. decides if his country turkey or germany will host the two thousand and twenty four european championships germany favorites to win big foot format turkey's desperate to coast in two thousand and twenty four after having made failed bids for the last three tournament. euro twenty twenty

particularly over turkey's human rights record. can germany and turkey find a way to get along. very well in this current crisis this economic and political crisis that is facing what is totally experts all hopeful from germany well i think as one hopes to get the advantage as it did when you when turkey was that you accession country he wants to get the same financial support he wants to gets funds he needs funds because turkey's economy is depending on the e.u. but turkey is not the same turkey any more and some in berlin even call it that add on republic so you know those is germany ready to give our go on. what he needs i'm not sure i think it will have to be witnessing a change in bilateral relations but also a change in turkey's process officially it's not ended but i mean you have mentioned the e.u. process and e.u. has no leverage on un turkey anymore what could be a way to convince our dong or to make a move in a certain direction is of course the economy and dimension and as for. as i understand where they're going to try to do that but fred at the moment the message f

is really focused on turkey for them turkey is the place where they come from and turkey is the place where they have to follow. the syrian currents and that's the sad story in a way for a long time they always fought for the rights of courts and other countries for example many current followed the iraqi kurds when they fought their fights against saddam hussein and even before and then many kurds in the one thousand nine hundred syrian kurds joined the. kurds in turkey and there was never actually before the syrian civil war started kurdish syrian insurgent group or something like this something like this simply didn't didn't exist and i think it's high time that the syrian kurds really focus on what they want to achieve in syria not so much to focus on what is happening in syria and what's happening in iraq the kurds let's say the political parties in iraq and in turkey don't do that in the end they're not really interested in what is happening to the syrian currents this this is sort of like that for a long time for example when he used to be in syria he used to be there for a lon

turkey's government violates human rights turkey has arrested german citizens turkey. has scorched earth as we heard. has. prevented german parliamentarians from visiting troops in the field serving for nato in turkey and you'll saying there should be a softly softly approach and also for the sanctions on took as i understand it -- yes i am firstly the softly softly approach. seems to work princes with my colleague dennis you showed was imprisoned on trumped up charges -- no pun intended -- accused of spying simply for doing his job when there are hundreds of others did in prison who don't have a german passport possible is that is did. and and and you know i mean it's it's it's it's it's horrible but i still think. arm that -- we have to somehow at the same time is helping them economic helping turkey economically which important country mustn't break down. and is another reason for this and when a country goes into economic downturns by like in venezuela revolution doesn't happen. that's when people are so busy scrambling for about politics and changing regime it's w

between the two and between turkey and the united states it includes turkey's purchase of s. four hundred missiles from russia it includes well i mean it's includes differences between the united states and turkey when it comes to syria and actually the whole of the middle east it includes public opinion towards the united states in turkey and public opinion towards turkey in the united states so i would not call it a problem between the presidents idea trick is the u.s. turkey crisis beyond repair at this point or do you think that it can be mended whale to tripes special tides if you want to put it to egomaniacs getting at each other. squarely thing what i think about the two. that's always difficult in particular because they are both determined by. let's see the messy policy consideration in the united states for instance that they have in the elections. and the bible belt the parts store the bible bit is important the it's up in the united states as support for president trump and his party so we'll have this space and i would say that to the the parts store who is of th

out turkey's president. heard that news while he was. he's in berlin on his first state visit aiming to diffuse recent tensions between the two countries and. dr short with what degree of certainty do you believe brett kavanaugh assault. one hundred percent one hundred years. christine blasi forward tells us senators that she was sexually assaulted by president trump's supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh kevin all denies the accusations and is delivering his testimony to lawmakers as we speak. it's good to have you with us we begin tonight with a winner and a loser in european football today germany clinched the right to host football's european champ. chips in twenty twenty four it will be the first time since the two thousand and six world cup that germany jose a major soccer event the announcement was made by european football's governing body you wave after germany won by a vote of twelve to four over turkey so that you will the host of the unit with twenty four. we beat germany german football associa

but turkey says the german government is harboring terrorists. turkey's domestic political troubles are now playing out in germany. in february twenty seventh teen turks in the western german city of obama campaigned in favor of a referendum that would give president head one more executive powers the turkish prime minister attended a big rally there john didn't go because of the charges against him in turkey german reporters once exactly welcome there either. no matter what means freedom everyone means freedom. i mean it's looking armisen that's at the top of what we've heard every certainly noticed that some people are criticizing the turkish government without any justification all. lloyd we've invested so much in germany some of us have lived here for decades we pay taxes and contribute to this country's prosperity that we feel betrayed it sliced into garbage for us i was an officer i don't know why but since the one nine hundred eighty s. the german media have to trade turkish working as asians in germany the turkish people and the turkey. n

mistreatment of kurdish citizens in turkey systematic mistreatment of kurdish citizens in turkey are out of touch with reality and that's a reason to put the prison the petition says as the vice chair of our party in human rights in charge of human rights i'll tell you this i'm a living example of how human rights has excelled during the time of x. party living example and woman like me would not be able to get elected and serve in the parliament when i say like me i'm saying a woman who chooses to wear the one tire of it's going to say i turn for the kurds it was really that way as an architect who made certain that the other side we demanded government to prepare the conditions for the good situations to create. that would lead to a lasting peace is demanding peace a terrorist arc in turkey when this at this precise titian incident let me talk about that time in two thousand and fifteen when president our grant took a very very important step and started the peace process in turkey p k k i'm i'm old enough to remember how it emerged and i remember as a child i'm ok i don't want to

but turkey has scenes turkey is not a backwater anymore turkey's economies grow and it is a number of the g twenty if you know it when you actually take a look at the relationship between turkey and not it's the snipers for a century turkey depended on u.s. aid to property economy that is no longer true the largest trading partner that turkey has today is the european union that trade is worth eighty four point seven billion dollars with the united states it's only nine dollars and if you're actually keeping a look at what we're turkey's interests lie. why is much more are we not only you got countries that have been pouring a lot of investments and business into turkey i totally agree that the united states and the mutually need other turkey is in a very rough neighborhood it's in the backyard of russia if borders syria iran and iraq and i have to say here that the united states actually should really can reconsider what its policy and its strategy towards turkey yes right now i don't see the trumpet ministration having a coherent strategy not only to turkey but to the meet middle ea

protection and turkey will reach an agreement with russia. to disband joins the rebel brigade. the group formerly known as al nasra and al qaida syria affiliate arrested deen have not shown any intention to disband turkey was under pressure from its political allies russia and you. eliminate them possibly using syrian rebels. the pressure may now turkey had warned russia and iran that a government offensive in adlib would threaten their political alliance the three countries the main stakeholders in the syrian conflict have been cooperate in through the so-called asked in a process their partnership has recently taken a whole new meaning the united states is the cleared economic war against them cooperation between these main players could stave off a battle that could affect the lives of billions in limited military operation tell there are expected around the edges of the province the government wants to secure a highways and prevent it little be used to attack strongholds. beirut huge crowds gathered in northern yemen for the funerals of p

turkey is saying something very straightforward turkey is say we don't want the p.k. k. we don't want the y.p. g p y d the kurdish militants enough. because men beach does not belong to the kurds africa is a kurdish place we have liberated it as i said one day we are going to give it back to its rightful owners which are the kurds the city and kurds of course. is the same mihm beach is the city which has a ninety five percent population of syrian arabs so what we want is for member because the p.k. k p y d y p g invaded may beach with the presidents of fighting day or isis as you called it and what they did was later on the americans said we will withdraw the kurds from there at the rightful owners which are the syrian arabs can stay there but the the americans did not keep their promise with the americans we say you don't want to leave this place ok don't leave this place but if you want the kurds are not going to be there or else we will also have to intervene in memphis to clear the kurds out of the city so the americans have a choice either they pushed the kurds o

was in there says the economic crisis in turkey is a good opportunity for investment. you can invest and cyclically now the lira has had a drastic decline the euro is strong so you can invest a lot in turkey for less money and that's what i'd recommend now. and despite the current strange political relations german and turkish companies share many interests. because they don't judge and joins us from our parliamentary stereo's first of all a political question for you everyone has come to berlin with a wish list warning support for his government's fight against kurdish militants in the golan movement which he blames for a failed coup considering what's gone down in tokyo over the past couple years and it wants consolidation of power what sort of position is he in to be making demands . quite frankly you know political can and do demand a lot of things but the reality is that turkey is still in the middle of a very difficult economic situation and the political political relations to the us are still difficult there is no alternative economic partner besides europe and

guy: turkey turmoil. traders were expecting action from the authorities to stabilize the lira and it did not happen. here we are monday morning. the central bank announces it is providing extra liquidity. the lira briefly rallied but the market signaled it was much more. will the president of turkey delivered today. and contagion. the rand suffers what a crash.nk calls look for south africa to move at the european open. matt: we are less than a half-hour away from stock trading. it was a horrible day on friday. if you were long that is. it looks set to be not a great day today either. here you see futures, index future is not firing -- not falling far but if you look at the asian markets, it is a bloodbath. take a look at what is going on in treasuries. investors are running for c5 in assets. we have for example the u.s. 10 2.86%,eld coming down to 2.87%. everywhere you look, you have gains and safe haven assets like but no lovee swiss for gold. guy: hard to find a safe haven on the gmm. i changed it to p

turkey right now? how much is this on your clients' radar i >> china -- you're talking about 7 to 1 [ inaudible i think what really has occurred in the market, we had a level of kplcomplacency that was develop. we had proprietary metric for watching how investors are positioned, not how they feel. it was edging to 44 would get you to euphoria levels at 42 on friday. it's been edging up over the -- >> this is very cool it's called the panic euphoria index. 44 would be extreme joy. i mean, just dancing through the fields. >> it's more about what the market reaction would be when you get into euphoria level, you have a 70% chance of losing money that's three times the random probability of losing money. if you're in panic levels -- >> too complacent and too happy? the positioning is too happy. >> i was talking with a client last week. he made a comment to me. he says we're worried about x, y and z. i said, well, you're saying you're not worried because you're worried do you understand the double negative

actually a right of turkey as well and for turkey what we've seen from october the second from when this murder actually happened and the weeks after that is that turkey has information to the press and me the evidence that that it has is there any reason to believe that turkey still holds evidence and we will be seeing more leaks. well of course it's impossible for for media to reach all details of the investigation foyle we are getting some information but from the first hand from the top turkish official who is present don we have heard in the we have heard recently that turkey has more evidence to be it to be presented to international law to international community at we don't know what they have extra but this is what the top turkish official search believing that this is all true turkey must have some more evidence of course turkey depended on media leaks out until now because there there was one problem which is international law actually tied up turkey's tense because this is the first merger in the diplomatic history happened in a diplomatic soil it is a contrary. ordering

turkey used old east german army weapons against the kurds in turkey and history is repeating itself in syria. and it's not just german tanks german military trucks have also been spotted on the syrian border. let me bring you up to fit some other stories making news around the world two consecutive car bombs detonated near a mosque in the libyan city of benghazi on tuesday killing at least twenty seven people and injuring dozens more the attack happened as worshippers were leaving the last many security officials are among the casualties they have believed to have been the target of the attack the so-called islamic state has claimed responsibility for a deadly attack in afghanistan gunmen stormed an office of save the children aid agency in the have gone city of jalalabad two people were killed and twenty others injured when the militants battle security forces huzzah rounded the building the british based charity has suspended its operations in afghanistan police in pakistan have arrested a twenty four year old man suspected of being a serial killer responsibly for the rape and mur

really help turkey achieve . well i think that turkey does look realizes that it has it is in trouble with washington and then there is this tradition that whenever relations are difficult with the u.s. turkey traditionally looks at deeper relations we've europe but until recently toki have been looking to moscow now that course along among turkey's western allies and the president reject all you've heard one repeatedly warned that turkey would look east pop those deepening relations with moscow do appear to have hit a limit as they all regional rivals and the growing tensions in exposed the risks of tokyo pending so heavily almost go so this is part of pokies efforts to report its relationship and it's looking to europe to possibly counterbalance the pendants almost go and going forward looking to strengthen its position to be tough to stand up to washington in the future great melinda coming back you know as we've heard this is all coming against the backdrop of a very difficult economic situation for turkey ho

so depending on what kind of support turkey will have from the united states turkey will have a stronger voice to request the extradition of these offer shows. it's not no one can assure that saudi arabia will accept to extradite those people or will can sound be willing to send those people in order to it's. protect his son to get away with this situation but. prisons are down the road that he will be chasing after this case and i have to remind that there is a local election coming up in a couple of months in early two thousand and nineteen if i don't play it fails in this he will be losing in the local elections a lot of credibility this is also another impact that is being tough. thanks very much. joining us today here in the studio and sultan baraka director of the center for conflict and humanitarian studies at the institute so a seven hour meeting between the cia boss and her opposite number so for mr erdogan on his desire for the direction of travel of this is clear but he won't get that unless this external pressure brought to bear on riyadh donald trump. it's true but i actuall

s because turkey believes that unless you get to us on board no matter what turkey does the result of its action will not be very consequential regarding the political career of m.b.'s himself so let's bring into our lives when i was you know the question as well as you know the question gathered he also talked about wanting the eighteen people arrested in saudi arabia to be tried in turkey. that seems to be a deliberate turning up of the heat on saudi arabia put more pressure on them do you think that's right. i think exactly right i think it's not only does it impossible to be trite in turkey he indicated that he can and will go more out of the saudi arabia because he'd he in soon it that is not the does not alter he has and he put some very important question for instance like where is the body who is the local collaborator what is the nature of the relationship of these eighteen people so the question that he paused and he said that remains to be and answered and vault to answer them is very crucial for the evolution of these cases because it's not only who does eighteen people ar

when european union behaves turkey that on the turkey needs european union turkey needs european union and european union needs turkey we are anywhere off this but some european countries unfortunately don't see the fact so why so you don't leave you a new man or you said you don't need real time trees in the european union actually against turkey's e.u. membership big measure the of the e.u. countries you member states actually are in favor of turkish actually you know we're membership anymore he said in your circle of us who love the idea as it were the reaction to this is the reaction of the country who has been waiting at the door for sixty years ok sixty years so i was away that it is turkey is a mistake so why do so many years so why threaten europe in march last year when the diplomatic pressure on what can what kind of threaten in march last year what is the sematic route with germany was at its height your president said that if europe continues this way no european in any part of the world can walk safely on the streets that's what he said that's a threat that's a direct thre

turkey or would it would it have further consequences. so it is no exaggeration that turkey is moving towards a financial collapse because it's a tragedy how can an economy stabilize the exchange rate and the current account by keeping this high growth rate so there is no signal that there is a political will to reduce the kinds onsen based growth rates at the same time if this collapse comes of course we have a large amount of loans in italy and we know at the same time that italian banks have been in troubles for months just remember after the elections how critical the situation was in europe and if turkey the financial system collapse and turkey the central bank in europe has also again to bail out italian banks and that will trigger a political conflict again and europe so in this bigger picture destabilizing turkey is not in the interest of the european union i don't they are saying thank you very much for this analysis and iran demand remains high for stay healthy out industrial equipment but a growing number of companies of potent

turkey is a state it has no problem with it kurdish citizens in turkey live peacefully and more democratically down in syria iraq and iran if we come to syria initiate issue in the beginning turkey would united states and european allies in order to support freedom against bashar assad regime but after after two thousand and. thirteen ok. left turkey ok let me jump in here go to the end before we go to the break here i mean but it is same time you know outside powers twice a proxy civil war because this is from the outside ok i mean bringing democracy to syria is the last thing this is all been about ok it's been arming jihad is to overthrow a legitimate government that is a go ahead deanne before we go to the break. i agree with what you say and i just want to comment on what sami was saying there is friction between between the u.s. and turkey and i don't say that predates the coup attempt actually in fact really it goes back to the downing of the russian plane i would read that scene obviously correctly as a low point in russian turkey's relations but i see that really as a last dance so le

through turkey. the turkey deal that has been signed after the 2015 huge increase in migration flows by turkey has been holding. we have seen, over the past year, the numbers of syrians traveling through turkey increasing. and growing concern within the european union that some of the fighterslamic state that are now trying to find their way back to europe through turkey may be traveling that route. they need important cooperation between the european union and turkey to make sure they stem the flow of those dangerous elements into europe. tom: you are one of the world's experts on the geopolitics of the black sea. what is the price of the president of the united states having an original agenda with turkey, versus other crisis we have seen? what is the price for turkey and the west given that russia is only distant across the black sea? price, important for everyone, turkey's pain a substantial economic price. geopolitically the west more broadly is also suffering from the crisis. turkey is a very i

in turkey. as a number of turkish soldiers are increasingly killed along with the concerns over the civilian plight but they could be a growing opposition to this operation and that is one of the reasons why they are going to crack down on any forces of dissent seven hundred arrests of people putting postings on social media opposing this operation that crackdown is expected to continue. jury and we've also been hearing reports of turkish guards at the border with syria indiscriminately shooting at people trying to flee across the border into turkey has this can you tell us any more about this story. but it's very difficult to verify these reports being very quick to say that this is propaganda this is out of the question they insist that their super bowl forces do behave in a humane way following international law but it has to be said the international human rights groups last year did publish a report making similar allegations against the turkish border security forces and undoubtedly this w

threatens to impose more sanctions on turkey and the turkish lira tumbles. two palestinians are killed and two hundred seventy others injured and friday's in gaza protests the endian state of carola is facing the worst floods in the century more than three hundred people have died and rescues are ongoing and a carpet star turned politician emraan card is set to be sworn in as prime minister of.

as turkey prepared to lay siege in the coming days turkey has now confirmed reports that its military shelled the area immediately in response the turkish president saying that those fighters have now been pushed back the region is controlled by kurdish forces turkey considers them terrorists. and for more let's bring in middle east analyst marcus climb from the german institute for international and security affairs in berlin welcome to you marcus good to be here a direct face off between turkey and prover g m forces there in offering this could have major implications couldn't indeed do straights a couple of things shifting alliances i mean the kurds in syria been loyal to the regime but they we haven't seen major fighting between the kurds and regime forces for the time of the civil war and now we have a maybe not alliance but a temporary coalition between these two forces and we see the danger of they need to do that in the confrontation between the military all of turkey and the syrian forces turkey of course has huge military resources and says that it will not leave free and it

which has been fighting a decades long insurgency inside turkey causing thousands of casualties turkey considers the p.k. k. as does most of the international community a terrorist organization and they say that this wipe e.g. kurdish militia is affiliated to it and they say that this organization is a clear and present threat to turkey they accuse its forces of crossing over into turkey to carry out operations in source port of p.k. k. now the y.p. cheap the nicest and adding to the problem the white beach is a key ally of the united states in its war against the islamic state in syria i mean unger is arguing and i would quote them it has no option but to carry out the military operation but turkey just in fact bombing a territory in syria one of the wider repercussions of this move or turkey argues that it has international law on its side it says that this militia poses a clear and present danger to this country and under international law it claimed it has a right to defend itself but this why p.g. militia has powerful allies not only the united states and in fact the state departm

many i'm from turkey. so that's putting oil into the fire isn't it. most certainly is i mean the current rout in the currency was triggered by tensions between turkey and the us over the ongoing to tension of an american past they hear this latest announcement it will be seen as pouring more oil on the fire at the liberty attempt to further destabilize the currency but it will just fuel into investors concerns that turkey is increasingly isolated and is facing a potential financial showdown with the most powerful economy in the world which will further fuel fears about the future of the turkish currency serious situation in turkey developing thank you very much story and jones in istanbul. ryanair pilots have begun a coordinated twenty four hour strike across europe germany is likely to be worst hit with two hundred fifty flight cancellations as ten airports pilots in ireland germany belgium sweden and the netherlands have also walked off the job. it's the biggest industrial action ever to hit europe's biggest budget airline the effect is visible here

turkey needs germany a lot more than germany needs turkey. it's very much more important to the turks. they can use that leverage a little bit there. should germany use the arms export issue, they export a lot of arms to turkey but that's a long-term thing. the final point i'd make is the issue of the coup plotters, i think the germans need to take this more seriously. the german position has been that the gulenists were not behind the coup. there seems to be a pretty strong case connection there. all these people, something like 800 or something that are right now in germany that are not being extradited. i think the german courts and government have got to take this a bit more seriously. there have got to be some people there that maybe should be sent back for legal reasons. >> i think playing off each oth is an interesting one. in a sense i wonder if eu count looking at brexit and seeing some of the debates surrounding the leave campaign had to do with immigrants coming. there was sort of an islamophobic dynamic to it. is there a concern t

to deal with turkey. well there's been a lot of talk of between both sides since german foreign minister gabriele poured tea for turkey's foreign minister at his private home is it on sensible to use communication channels during times of crisis certainly the left party absolutely favors engaging in dialogue and i personally support it. without that foreign affairs will get nowhere but that's different to entertaining someone at home in some form of chummy living room diplomacy that's not engaging in dialogue i think arms exports don't contribute to mutual understanding but only add to conflict against the backdrop of turkey's domestic political crisis and its foreign policy role i think it is a severely criticizing turkish president i don't want one but two thirds of tax living in germany supported in the constitutional referendum the you have an explanation for why so many turks voted for someone who wants to abolish civil rights. if the opera. well several factors explain this one is that turkish presi

turkey considers the u.s. backed y p d an extension of the kurdish rebel group p k k that it was for four decades and korea has been angered by the y.p.s. expansion in more than syria after the us backed into the group and the fight against all but of the washington state it will train an army to patrol the border region with the wipe india as a key component tuckey responded with its own military. offensive air strikes and ground up tuck's potentially puts turkey in conflict with its nato ally and turkey say this may expand its operation in mosul in syria to the city of mumbai each after a free and has been cleared the task of taking of a member it will fall off auction of the free syrian army that's allied to the syrian government whether the us will try to convince turkey from taking mumble as it's done in the past is unclear at this stage russia syria's ally says it will not interfere in the conflict but it does control over enclaves airspace which means turkish air strikes that began on twenty january mus

and turkey and syria is on the. on the syrian side but there is a syrian on whom the forces are surrounding our friend backed of course by russia and iran no i think there is not cooperation between the mosque in p. why did the stock to pull operation of two. army deacon if you might need that for you might be begun to surround syria what do you think that will happen if turkish troops kill one of donald trump soldiers in northern syria yes i. was nick did cry but i think it's just one sick area and being an united states playing for draw all our muster off the rock had clashed arriving grogs of the eurasia and the s. temple three nights of the soul device the concrete in the region is hamper for the unification then growth on your asia well kind of because finally you are happy though with britain's position dres amaze foreign secretary saying that he has the right to protect its borders britain definitely not supporting washington or moscow defacto in afrin yeah it's not for the good because. you can see that the

absolutely they can't they cannot ignore what turkey is saying turkey is a part of this formats turkey is a neighbor of syria turkey has interests in the security of syria as a direct consequence of its own national security russia has to take these views on board so this meeting here with these three leaders is kind of a chance for russia iran and turkey to work out their red lines and what's they do and do not find acceptable. we are waiting to see whether this is going to resolve itself in a measured moderates incursion into it that takes into account turkey's concerns perhaps involves turkey in a limited military way in the actual operation itself or whether this is going to be more like the kind of assaults that we've seen in past operations where damascus and the iranian militias and russia and its air force have acted in concert to each other receiving rebel areas bombarding them from the air forcing surrenders and therefore wrapping these reveler is up and returning them to damascus we don't yet know what that is going to look like in libya is it going to be the former is it go

in germany as well a lot of stake not only for turkey but for the e.u. as well and you leon first in istanbul thanks very much. now let's get some of the other stories making the news today an intense wildfire in the u.s. state of california has forced the closure of an interstate highway motors had to flee their vehicles as that blaze raged in the shasta trinity national forest scores of houses there under threat many residents have been ordered to evacuate. twitter has permanently banned the right wing internet personality alex jones because of abusive behavior the move comes after you posted a video of himself berating a c.n.n. journalist to social media giant previously suspended him for a week facebook and youtube have taken similar actions against alex jones. one of the front runners in brazil's presidential election the arab also morrow is in stable but critical condition after being stabbed in the abdomen the far right politician was attacked while campaigning. iraq's parliament will convene an emergency session saturday to discuss the situation

crisis in turkey. the euro weakens to yet another record low as u.s. president -- on metal tariffs. turkish president erdogan responded by saying his country will not surrender to "economic hitman," urging turks to cash in their hard earned savings to the lira. >> if there is anyone who has dollars, gold, or euros under them tollows, i asking take them into the banks and exchange them with turkish lira. this is going to be the response of my nation to those who are making this move, this hostile move to our country. scarlet: joining us over the phone from istanbul is benjamin harley, bloomberg turkey bureau chief. benjamin, thank you for joining us. obviously, we will look at the financial impact here of the lira's collapse and what it means for not just the turkish market, european markets, and -- u.s. market, but i want to get a sense on the ground of how things are going in istanbul. how are people responding to erdogan encouraging them to convert their currency to the turkish lira, which is rapidly

lie on the rule of law in turkey business people cond rely on human rights in turkey and all these conditions have to be improved and then business will start. from itself and germany and german companies could invest again in turkey and that could then help the church economy get on its feet again ok fog and those are two points we're going to be talking about today the reliability of the german or the turkish economy rather and its political scene and if germany will be coughing up any cash for ankara for now though thanks very much for being with us right now as part of our live coverage of president wants this it here to germany we're going to go on to other news now before we return to this topic and i q's asians and counterclaims after off a day in the united states of motion testimony on tuesday looking into the nomination for the u.s. supreme court psychologist christine blazing for accusing judge brett kavanaugh of sexual assault on high school cavanaugh denied all the accusations completely republican senators on the committee are pushing for an initial vote on cavanagh's nomination

that may not happen in turkey because turkey is a polarized landscape. i consider turkish president erdogan to be a prototype of populist leaders globally. what that means is for the last 16 years he has been ping turkish society. he has built a base that loves and adores him and that buys iinto his narrative that out to make turkey great again. the base will buy into his new narrative that the sanctions represent an economic attack against turkey, that washington wants erdogan to fail because turk w's adversaries do nt turkey to become great. , partsnately for turk of the population are not necessarily buying into what seality is, but what reality made for them by their populist leader. erdogan's -- sanctions might hurt the economy but they might strengthen his base and power.e rajini: is they way forward to make relations between the two countries improve?t soner: absdrew brunson's release, i don't see how trump will have an agreeable rkeation with tagain. he might push for sanctions until he secures the release of the pastor. rajini: thanks for coming

turkey. well as you've heard jack is economy is facing major challenges the lira has dropped to a record low against the dollar down by almost twenty percent as celera fell the inflation rate sawed beyond twelve percent the highest it's been in six months on a slightly better net the economy grew by seven point four percent in the first three months of this year but analysts are warning that there are signs of strain. thank you. right let's introduce our guests now in ankara we have with her teen at a man who's editor of insight turkey and director of the setter think tank education and social policy from london we have thirty her career a consulting fellow in the euro program at chatham house and also in ankara by skype we have url's girl who is professor in the department of international relations at bill kent university thank you all for joining us can i start with you martine president edwin in these elections are is is facing a confluence of extraordinary factors in he's got to revitali

as you know turkey wants to build better relations again with the e.u. . germany should be standing firm and saying back out happen until this this systematic crisis in human rights is is ended and turkey turns over a new leaf same with the council of europe in distress book turkey is on the watch list of this for the council of europe it should stay on that watch list until things improve and germany can influence that. where do you see the trajectory going right now given the current state of affairs and what are your hopes for the future i don't see many positive signs as great this is happened today but the sentencing of the six journalists really shows that the crisis is continuing we also have we also have opposition politicians in prison today there was a prison ruling against the people a titian today also in istanbul very bad news for the country millions of people don't have the democratically elected representatives allowed to operate freely so i'm pessimistic for the for the for the long term for the long term human rights trend in the country