Turkish lira devalued against the US dollar, after Washington's threat to impose fresh sanctions on Ankara.

Iran press/ America: On Friday night's trading on the financial markets, the US dollar traded at 5.82 Turkish Liras.

The US Dollar gained in value against Turkish Lira after the US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said that the White House is considering significant new sanctions against Turkey after the country launched a military operation in northern Syria.

Mnuchin said US President Donald Trump has authorised significant new sanctions against Turkey, but the US is not activating those sanctions just yet.

He said financial institutions are 'on notice' that there could be sanctions later on Turkey.

"We can shut down the Turkish economy if we want to," he said. "This is a way of making sure we protect the humanitarian issues, and the people on the ground."

On another development, the European Union threatened Ankara with further sanctions and rejected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's warning that Ankara would open the gates of Syrian refugees to Europe, flooding Europe with refugees.

On October 9, Ankara launched a new military operation in northern Syria dubbed Peace Spring, which began with airstrikes on positions of Kurdish units.

The objective is to create a buffer zone in northern Syria where Syrian refugees could return from Turkey, Ankara claims.

The buffer zone will also establish a security belt along the Turkish border. The Syrian SANA news agency branded the operation as aggression, while the international community has largely condemned Ankara’s actions.

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