© Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images Turkey's Finance Minister Nuredin Nebati told the FT that her country was "working carefully in the international financial system". Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images
- The FT reported that Turkey received a record amount of $28 billion between January and August.
- The Turkish Finance Minister believes that unknown revenues from tourism make up a large part of this income.
- However, all imports are legal and legal, said Turkish Finance Minister Nurettin Nebati.
The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that between January and August this year, Turkey received a record amount of $28 billion. However, the Turkish Finance Minister dismissed these concerns.
Turkish Finance Minister Nuredin Nebti told FTA that "tourism revenue of unknown origin" is a large part of what Turkey's Central Bank classifies as "net errors and shortfalls" on its balance sheet. The allegation, the FT reports.
He told media that some of the money came from Russian tourists who had to use cash because they were unable to enter the international financial payment system due to the ban.
Nebti told FTA that relations between Turkey and Russia were only "good neighbours".
According to the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Russians are still the second largest group of foreign visitors in Turkey, accounting for 13% of total visitors. In the first eight months of the year, the largest group of foreign tourists to Turkey were Germans.
Nebti also said that several unidentified Turkish companies and individuals returned the money, sometimes in cash, the FT reports.
He added in the FTA that all revenues are legal and that Turkey "works very carefully in the international financial system. It is not a country that acts against the international financial system."
Turkey's central bank did not immediately respond to The Insider's request for details of the incoming transfer due to "clear errors and omissions."
Secret flows into Turkey are nothing new, but Ankara and Moscow are being investigated because they are friendlier. Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country would work with Russia "to create a natural gas plant," the Turkish news agency Anadolu reported.