ISTANBUL, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's stock exchange Borsa Istanbul plummeted over 9 percent on Thursday after Russia started a military operation against Ukraine, local media reported.
Dunya daily said on its website that sharp losses were especially reported in Russia and Ukraine-linked Turkish companies, such as Turkish Airlines and Tekfen Holding.
Borsa Istanbul was temporarily closed, and the transactions were temporarily suspended, press reports said.
Meanwhile, the Turkish currency lira weakened as far as 14.73 against the U.S. dollar and stood at 14.50 by 3:38 p.m. local time (1238 GMT), after losing nearly 5 percent of its value.
The Sozcu daily said the sharp rise in oil and natural gas prices across the globe prompted by the crisis has the potential to increase Turkey's import bill and reduce tourism revenues.
Sozcu stressed that the latest developments would also distort the country's calculations regarding the current account deficit, which was 14.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2021.
Turkey has long been struggling against high inflation, which surged to a two-decade high of 48.7 percent in January. ■
