Apple Customers in Turkey Can No Longer Purchase Devices From Official Stores After Lira Crashes

The Apple logo is seen on the outside of Bill Graham Civic Auditorium before the start of an event in San Francisco, on Sept. 7, 2016. Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

Apple has temporarily halted online sales of some of its devices on official stores in Turkey after the country’s currency, the lira, crashed 15 percent on Tuesday against the dollar.

Currently, consumers looking to purchase Apple products including iPhones and Macs from the official Apple store in Turkey are able to view the products on the website. However, customers are unable to add the devices to their virtual shopping cart at this time.

Consumers can, however, still view and purchase such products from popular e-commerce sites in the country, including Hepsiburada and Trendyol. Apple has not officially announced that it has temporarily suspended sales in the country and it is unclear when consumers will be able to purchase the company’s products again.

The Epoch Times has contacted an Apple spokesperson for comment.

It comes after the Turkish lira nosedived 15 percent on Tuesday in its second-worst day ever after President Tayyip Erdogan, who has led the country since 2003, said that he would not be deterred by rising inflation and defended recent sharp rate cuts, declaring an “economic war of independence.”

The currency has fallen 45 percent this year, including a near 26 percent decline since the beginning of last week, largely in response to a series of interest rates cuts by the central bank governor, Sahap Kavcioglu.

Erdogan has put pressure on the central bank to slash interest rates in a move he firmly believes will boost exports, investment, and jobs within the country. But critics fear this will further erode the lira, and trigger further inflation, which currently stands near 20 percent in the country.

Many economists have called the rate cuts reckless and urged the president to reverse course, while opposition politicians have appealed for early elections, which are set to take place in 2023.

Soaring inflation levels have already had drastic impacts on everything from the cost of basic goods to rental prices in Turkey, the latter of which have surged to new heights—with some regions seeing average prices shoot up 100 percent—and left hundreds struggling to afford rent.

As a result of rising inflation and the subsequent increase in the cost of goods, Turkey’s population of roughly 85 million has also seen their local currency salaries severely devalued and many are now left searching for second jobs to keep themselves and their families afloat.

“There has not been such a catastrophe in the history of the Republic,” said Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the opposition Republican People’s Party. “At this point, you are a fundamental national security problem for the Republic of Turkey,” Kilicdaroglu said, referring to Erdogan.

The central bank, which has slashed rates by a total of 400 points since September, is yet to comment on the lira’s plunge.

Former central bank deputy governor Semih Tumen, who was dismissed by the president last month in yet another last-minute leadership overhaul, called for an immediate return to policies that protect the lira’s value.

“This irrational experiment which has no chance of success must be abandoned immediately and we must return to quality policies which protect the Turkish lira’s value and the prosperity of the Turkish people,” he said on Twitter.

On Monday, Erdogan defended his policy and vowed to stick with it, while maintaining that high interest rates would not lower inflation levels, an unorthodox view he has repeated for years.

“I reject policies that will contract our country, weaken it, condemn our people to unemployment, hunger, and poverty,” he said after a cabinet meeting.

Reuters contributed to this report.