The Turkish lira plunged to a historic low, and stocks on the stock exchange fell so much that trading was temporarily suspended. The yield on 10-year government securities jumped to 29.94%, which was the highest in a year, amid a massive asset sale following the arrest of President Erdogan's main political opponent. This event increased the political instability in the market. The Borsa Istanbul 100 index fell by 6.9% at the opening, which caused an automatic trading halt. After the resumption of the session, the shares continued to decline, declining by another 4.6%. The USD/TRY pair broke the 41.10 mark, losing more than 12% of the value of the lira. By noon, the exchange rate had stabilized slightly below the 40 level, showing an increase of almost 7%. The escalation of tension is linked to the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a key rival of Erdogan, whose popularity has increased since winning the mayoral election. The authorities had previously revoked his education diploma, which could prevent him from participating in the presidential race. Imamoglu planned to become the official candidate of the opposition Republican People's Party in the presidential elections in the near future.
