President Erdogan: We Have Separate Wars Against Cryptocurrencies

President Erdogan (Cryptonomist)

JAKARTA - Recently, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended an event titled "Meeting with Youth" with students from 81 provinces which was held in the city of Mersin, southern Turkey. During the event, Erdogan answered a number of questions from young people including a question about cryptocurrencies posed by a student.

“My question is regarding cryptocurrencies. Recently, the central bank built a digital Turkish lira platform. With this decision, is Turkey planning to open a cryptocurrency? … We would like to know your opinion on this matter.”

Answering the question, Erdogan stated that it is a separate war against crypto. He also mentioned that the government would not treat crypto as preferentially and “will continue with our own currency.”

“On the contrary, we have a separate war, a separate struggle against them (cryptocurrencies),” the Turkish President replied as quoted by Bitcoin.com News on September 20, 2021.

After that, President Erdogan asked for a response from the deputy chairman of the Justice and Development Party (PAK) who also served as prime minister, Binali Yıldrım who was also present in the youth program.

“What do you think, Mr. Binali?” asked President Erdogan.

“Unfortunately, cryptocurrencies have also brought up a number of complaints. So, it is something that requires serious control,” Binali said.

Binali also cited a number of 'bad examples' related to cryptocurrencies, one of which was the Dogecoin (DOGE) crypto investment scam that was investigated by the Turkish police in August.

The perpetrators managed to steal funds from 1,500 investors. He also added that he mentioned the case of two troubled crypto exchanges and after being investigated they were proven to be fraudulent in early 2021.

"In the future, at your discretion," Yıldrım told President Erdogan. “It may be necessary to make some arrangements as a country, as a government, to prevent this abuse and wrongdoing. Studies on it have already started.”

For information, the Turkish central bank issued an announcement last April, in which the Turkish central bank banned cryptocurrencies from being used as a medium of exchange. But in July, the Turkish government was reportedly preparing a bill to regulate cryptocurrencies.