ANKARA (Dispatches) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced the lira crisis as a plot against Turkey, warning that his country will forge new alliances and markets in response to a bitter rift with long-time ally the United States, which has caused the Turkish currency to hit record lows.
"The fluctuation in the Turkish lira is a plot against Turkey, but the Turkish people will not give in," the Turkish president defiantly said in a live speech in northwestern province of Trabzon, sharply criticizing the United States of waging an "economic war" against his country.
Relations between the United States and Turkey had plunged to their lowest in decades following unprecedented sanctions declared by the United States on Turkey over U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson, who faces terrorism charges and up to 35 years in prison if found guilty.
Erdogan says the United States is seeking to stab Turkey "in the back”, as Washington has slapped Ankara with "large” sanctions over the detention of the American pastor.
"You act on one side as a strategic partner but on the other you fire bullets into the foot of your strategic partner,” Erdogan told a conference in the capital Ankara on Monday, addressing his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump.
"We are together in NATO and then you seek to stab your strategic partner in the back. Can such a thing be accepted?” Erdogan asked.
 Turkey scrambled a delegation to Washington last week to stave off the crisis but no deal has been reached.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said on Thursday that although the two sides "had wide-ranging meetings at the State Department and with other departments here in Washington," the U.S. side "would define progress as Pastor Brunson being brought home."
Erdogan vowed also in Trabzon there would be no easing of the law in Brunson's case, said that the United States tried to "give us ultimatums and deadlines to free the priest. We have not made concessions on justice so far, and we will never make any."
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday that Turkey has done enough to repair its ties with the United States, adding that Washington had acted contrary to their alliance regarding fundamental security issues.
Cavusoglu made the comments during a speech to ambassadors in Ankara. He also said the United States should learn that it will not achieve any results by threatening Turkey.
Defying U.S. pressures, Ankara now says it is ready to take all necessary measures to ensure financial stability, as lira has been in the free fall since Friday.
A group of people in Turkey burned dollar bills, saying ‘protest continues until Commander in Chief Erdo?an tells us to end it.’