Turkey Unveils Design of New Turkish Lira Notes and Coins
The Government of Turkey has unveiled the design of the country's new currency two months before it goes into circulation. Starting on January 1, 2005, Turkey will remove six zeros from the current Turkish Lira (TL). As a result, one New Turkish Lira (Yeni Turk Lirasi or YTL) will be equal to one million TL. In addition, one YTL will be equal to 100 kurus (pronounced koo-roosh). The kurus disappeared from circulation in Turkey more than two decades ago. The YTL and the current TL will be in joint circulation during 2005 with the TL being phased out of circulation by the end of 2005.
The elimination of six zeros from the Turkish Lira comes as Turkey is beginning to rein in decades of chronic inflation that pushed the TL from 1.5 TL per U.S. dollar in the 1940s to 1,500,000 TL per U.S. dollar today. The annual inflation rate in Turkey, which exceeded 100% in the mid-1990s, now stands at 10%.
The YTL banknotes that will enter circulation will be in denominations of 1, 5, 10 and 2O YTL, which correspond to the current 1 million, 5 million, 10 million and 20 million notes, and will be almost identical in design to the current notes. There will also be two new banknotes: 50 YTL and 100 YTL, which, as is the case with the other notes, will carry portraits of Turkey's founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk on the front and pictures of Turkey's cultural and natural heritage on the reverse.
The largest coin denomination will be 1 YTL, while the smallest coin will be 1 kurus. The new coins will all have a crescent and a star -- the symbol on the Turkish flag -- on the front with a portrait of Ataturk on the back. Photos of the YTL notes and coins can be viewed at the Central Bank of Turkey's web site at the following link: www.tcmb.gov.tr/ytlkampanya/ytlbanknotlar.php (click the images to enlarge them).
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