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Equity markets in Turkey decline after parliament decision

Turkish markets plummeted Monday over fears the country might face an Iraq war without aid from the US.

The US aid is dependent on Turkish cooperation in a war and Turkey's stock market slid 12.5 percent in trading Monday to close at 10,128.88.

Turkey's currency, the lira, also lost some 3.3 percent and was floating around 1,643,000. Traders say the currency was buoyed by an announcement by the Central Bank that it would intervene in the exchange rate.

Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan said the nation's 146.9 quadrillion Turkish lira (approximately US$89 billion) budget targets year-end growth of 5 percent and 20 percent consumer inflation, within the terms of Turkey's US$16 billion IMF-backed economic recovery program.

The announcement came after parliament this weekend failed to approve the deployment of 62,000 US troops in the country for an Iraq operation, a deal that carried US pledges of US$15 billion in grants and loans. Turkey's government has been using a temporary budget.
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