Egypt braces for spillover from Turkey’s economic crisis
With the Turkish lira hitting a new low against the dollar and Jordan freezing its free trade agreement with Ankara, will Egypt take revenge on Turkey by imposing duties on Turkish imports?
CAIRO — The economic crisis looming over Turkey hit a high point in May with the Turkish lira losing around 20% of its value, reaching 4.25 to the dollar. Egyptian, Arab and regional media coverage has focused on its impact on free trade agreements between Turkey and some Arab countries, mainly Egypt.
Tensions soared between Egypt and Turkey in 2013, after Egypt's armed forces ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saw the toppling of Morsi as a military coup and hosted several Brotherhood leaders who were accused by Egypt of planning and financing terrorist acts there.
Jordan froze its free trade agreement with Turkey on May 28. In its June 4 article “Abolition of Turkish-Arab agreements: Financial crisis or political motive,” news site Arabi21 discussed the repercussions of Jordan’s move on Turkey’s economy and the future of trade deals between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Sudan, Qatar and Egypt.
The current situation has spurred speculation of plans to harm Egypt's economy. In a May 26 article, Youm7 journalist Dandrawi Al-Hawari warned of a plan by leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood who fled from Egypt to Turkey to protect the Turkish economy in support of Erdogan in the presidential elections slated for June 24. Under this plan, he wrote, these leaders will flood the Egyptian market with Turkish products through importation companies they own in Egypt, creating a huge surplus in dollars and bringing down its value against the Turkish lira. Hawari warned that massive importation by Egypt of Turkish products will harm the Egyptian economy.
