Story highlights
In a surprise move, Erdogan appointed a new central bank governor and promised to adhere to more orthodox monetary policies that would include higher interest rates in a bid to stem the slide of the Turkish lira.
Turkeyâs state-controlled top religious authority has conditionally endorsed usury in a ruling that is likely to fuel debate about the concept of Islamic finance and could weaken President Recep Tayyip Erdoganâs efforts to garner religious soft power by projecting Turkey as a leader defending Muslim causes.
The ruling issued by the Directorate of Religious Affairs or Diyanet that is part of Mr. Erdoganâs office stated that interest-based home loans were exempted from the 1,400-year-old ban on interest as a form of usury, provided they were extended by a Turkish state bank for the purchase of real estate in a government housing project.