Turkey’s $200 Billion Wealth Fund Paralyzed by Internal Strife

  • Erdogan’s old ally emerges as another pillar of Turkish power
  • Prime minister calls claims of one-man rule a ‘complete lie’

Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Binali Yildirim.

Photographer: Mehmet Ali Ozcan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
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Days after last year’s failed coup, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his allies set to work creating a wealth fund to safeguard what is now about $200 billion of assets, including cash, property and shares.

Since then, officials have been trumpeting the formation of such a large pool of capital outside the budget as a kind of cure-all, piquing investor interest with pledges to use it for everything from defending the lira and buoying the stock market to recapitalizing banks and cutting borrowing costs.