Turkey brushes off Russia spillover concerns for economy

Turkey on Thursday brushed off concerns over the possible impact of the Russian economic crisis, saying its economy was strong enough to survive the turbulence in emerging markets.

"The volatility in oil producing countries like Russia can have an impact on developing countries," Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a news conference in Ankara, where he unveiled a new macro-economic program.

But he said the government had predicted any possible impact of such volatility and had taken timely measures.

"Nobody should expect any negative development on the economy ... We have full confidence in the Turkish economy's resources," he said.

"Our foreign exchange reserves and the instruments we have are inherently solid."

Turkey and Russia are enjoying burgeoning trade ties despite their differences over political issues including the Syrian crisis.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Turkey early this month when the two countries pledged to triple bilateral trade to a target of $100 billion in the next years from $32.7 billion in 2013.

Energy-hungry Turkey is dependent on Russian oil and gas supplies.

Davutoglu said the markets now reached a more stable state compared to a few days ago when the Turkish lira hit record lows amid the collapse of the Russian ruble and tensions between Ankara and the EU over the mass arrests of journalists last weekend.

The lira struck a low in value of 2.41 lira to the dollar and 3.03 to the euro -- breaking through the crucial 3.0 barrier.

On Thursday, the currency rallied, strengthening to 2.32 lira per dollar and 2.87 to per euro.