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THE TURKEY'S OPPOSITION CLAIMED THAT THE NEW CURRENCY SYMBOL LOOKS TOO MUCH LIKE THE INITIALS OF TURKISH PM ERDOGAN
Balkans.com
http://www.balkans.com/open-news.php?uniquenumber=137955
March 5 2012
Turkey announced a new symbol for its struggling lira last week,
to predictably mixed reviews.
The country's opposition claimed that the new currency symbol looks
too much like the initials of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan. Others criticized the symbol because it looks very similar
to the symbol of Armenian Dram.
The new lira symbol has even reportedly caused some confusion among
Bulgarian and Greek tourists visiting Turkey's northwestern province
Edirne because it looks slightly similar to the euro symbol. Hence,
local merchants in the Edirne bazaar have stopped using the symbol
in stores.
"We really liked the new symbol for the lira and wrote it on our
price tags immediately," says Yasem Erem, a local fisherman. However,
he stopped using the symbol as many tourists confused the symbol with
the euro sign, reports Hurriyet Daily News.
Turkey's central bank held a contest to decide on the new lira symbol.
Around 8,000 contestants took part in the competition and participant
Tulay Lale's design was selected as the winner of the contest. Lale's
design is a double-crossed "L," shaped like an anchor. According to
Central Bank Governor Erdem Basci , the anchor represented a "safe
harbour" while the upward facing lines represent its rising prestige.
The symbol was originally supposed to be released on February 22, but
a press conference scheduled to make the announcement was canceled
only few hours before for unknown reasons. Erdogan later personally
revealed the new lira symbol on March 1.
"It was a great shortcoming that our currency did not have a symbol.
However, considering the past, when the lira was among the world's
least valuable currencies, perhaps not having a symbol may not be
considered as a bad thing," said an anonymous Justice and Development
Party (AKP) deputy told daily Today's Zaman.
The lira has been struggling with rising inflation for the past
months. The currency was ranked as the world's least valuable currency
in 1995, 1996, and from 1999 to 2004 by the Guinness Book of Records.
In 2005, the currency went through a revaluation. Six zeroes were
removed from the lira and a new currency officially labled as the
Yeni Turk Lirasi (new Turkish lira) was created.
"We did not pay attention to pessimists and negative comments and
completed the process of removing six zeros with almost no problem.
Our people and institutions quickly adapted to the new lira," Erdogan
told reporters when revealing the symbol.
In 2009 the word Yeni, or "new," was removed from the currency's name
and the it was called was again called, simply, the lira. Since then
it has been performing slightly better. However, in 2011, the lira
continued to decline steadily. It rose at the beginning of 2012,
but concerns over the currency's stability remains.
Balkans.com
http://www.balkans.com/open-news.php?uniquenumber=137955
March 5 2012
Turkey announced a new symbol for its struggling lira last week,
to predictably mixed reviews.
The country's opposition claimed that the new currency symbol looks
too much like the initials of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan. Others criticized the symbol because it looks very similar
to the symbol of Armenian Dram.
The new lira symbol has even reportedly caused some confusion among
Bulgarian and Greek tourists visiting Turkey's northwestern province
Edirne because it looks slightly similar to the euro symbol. Hence,
local merchants in the Edirne bazaar have stopped using the symbol
in stores.
"We really liked the new symbol for the lira and wrote it on our
price tags immediately," says Yasem Erem, a local fisherman. However,
he stopped using the symbol as many tourists confused the symbol with
the euro sign, reports Hurriyet Daily News.
Turkey's central bank held a contest to decide on the new lira symbol.
Around 8,000 contestants took part in the competition and participant
Tulay Lale's design was selected as the winner of the contest. Lale's
design is a double-crossed "L," shaped like an anchor. According to
Central Bank Governor Erdem Basci , the anchor represented a "safe
harbour" while the upward facing lines represent its rising prestige.
The symbol was originally supposed to be released on February 22, but
a press conference scheduled to make the announcement was canceled
only few hours before for unknown reasons. Erdogan later personally
revealed the new lira symbol on March 1.
"It was a great shortcoming that our currency did not have a symbol.
However, considering the past, when the lira was among the world's
least valuable currencies, perhaps not having a symbol may not be
considered as a bad thing," said an anonymous Justice and Development
Party (AKP) deputy told daily Today's Zaman.
The lira has been struggling with rising inflation for the past
months. The currency was ranked as the world's least valuable currency
in 1995, 1996, and from 1999 to 2004 by the Guinness Book of Records.
In 2005, the currency went through a revaluation. Six zeroes were
removed from the lira and a new currency officially labled as the
Yeni Turk Lirasi (new Turkish lira) was created.
"We did not pay attention to pessimists and negative comments and
completed the process of removing six zeros with almost no problem.
Our people and institutions quickly adapted to the new lira," Erdogan
told reporters when revealing the symbol.
In 2009 the word Yeni, or "new," was removed from the currency's name
and the it was called was again called, simply, the lira. Since then
it has been performing slightly better. However, in 2011, the lira
continued to decline steadily. It rose at the beginning of 2012,
but concerns over the currency's stability remains.