WH Mentions Turkey Alongside China As Key Concern; De-Dollarisation Progress Slow

LOCAL NEWS

• White House NSA Sullivan talked with EC Head Siebert agreeing to work together on issues of mutual concern including Turkey & China. Outright mention of Turkey next to China is an alarming inclusion and indicates a directly hawkish stance to come in 2021
• Report shows limited progress on de-dollarisation as foreign FX deposits increased by $763m to $236bn in the week ending Jan 22 as local businesses and individuals took advantage of a firmer TRY
• All three opposition parties protest censoring of sovereign wealth fund report, criticising a lack of transparency from Govt.
  • Comes amid concerns that the wealth Fund's balance sheet may be compromised, having been "turned into a debt fund" over the last few years
• Local Political analyst warns hopes for Judicial reform should be kept low, given Erdogan's recent appointment of AKP aligned Irfan Fidan to the Constitutional Court.
  • Says it causes "a threat to the judiciary at the highest level" with Govt-linked officials taking increased control over critical cases
• second shipment of 10m vaccines arrives in Turkey from China - total now at 13m doses from China with the remaining 37m to come - Hurriyet daily