Turkey to boycott US electronic goods over sanctions

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his country will boycott US electronic products, after Washington imposed punitive sanctions on Ankara.

“If [the US] has the iPhone, there’s Samsung on the other side,” Mr Erdogan said, referring to Apple and its South Korean competitor.

The US doubled tariffs last week over Turkey’s refusal to extradite a US pastor who is imprisoned there.

Turkey’s weakened currency, the lira, plunged by a full 20% in response.

President Erdogan said Turkey was taking measures to stabilise the economy, and should not “give in to the enemy” by investing in foreign currencies.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is visiting Ankara, branded the US sanctions an illegitimate policy at a news conference on Tuesday. He accused the US of seeking an unfair competitive advantage in global trade.