Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahceli called the news about 600 million fake dollars entering the Turkish market a lie.< /span>
"The news that about $600 million worth of counterfeit money has entered the market in recent days is a lie, a manipulation and an attempt to divert attention. In our opinion, this is an operation against Turkey, as a result of which panic was created, exchange offices stopped buying and selling currency,” Bahceli said during a speech to the MHP faction in parliament. The MHP is allied with the ruling Justice and Development Party of President Tayyip Erdogan.
Bahceli indicated that he considers the accusations of counterfeiting in the market to be “targeted“ and urged the population “not to worry, because this is exactly what the enemies of Turkey want”. He also noted that the authorities must not stop fighting counterfeiting and must continue investigations into this matter and identify those responsible.
Last week, Turkish media reported that a large number of counterfeit dollars had been imported into the country. The amount varies from 600 mln. USD up to 1 billion USD. These are mostly 50 and 100 USD copies of the previous type. Most of the fakes are reported to have been imported into Turkey from Syria, Iran and the Balkan countries. According to the Ekonomim newspaper, the first counterfeit currency operation took placein the city of Gaziantep, bordering Syria; Counterfeit dollars were also found in the tourist destinations of Antalya, Izmir, Istanbul and Ankara.
The exchange offices stopped working with these accounts and started updating the software of the devices for counting and verifying money. Turkey's central bank said it has taken a number of measures to prevent the circulation of counterfeit currency in the republic and is in coordination with law enforcement agencies conducting relevant investigations. It was also reported that the prosecutor's office in Istanbul has launched an investigation into the spread of information in the media about the influx of counterfeits into Turkey.