ISTANBUL: Turkey's lira weakened on Wednesday after officials said parliament would fast-track legislation allowing its troops to be deployed to a Turkish military base in Qatar, fuelling concerns about an escalation of the dispute in the Gulf.
The lira eased 0.73 percent to 3.5400 against the dollar after officials from the ruling AK Party and the nationalist opposition told Reuters about the planned legislative step in support of Qatar.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain severed relations with Qatar and closed their airspace to commercial flights on Monday, charging it with financing militant groups. Qatar denies the allegation.
"The sides are becoming clear in the region. Turkey is in the Russia-Iran-Qatar group," said one banker, who declined to be identified. "That the sides have become so clear makes people think tensions will increase."
The lira is little changed against the dollar so far this year, making it one of the better performing emerging market currencies against the greenback.
The main Turkish share index fell 0.56 percent to 97,777.18 points.
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