ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed yesterday to defy US “threats” over a detained pastor, showing no signs of concessions in a bitter row that has caused the Turkish lira to crash.

Relations between the two NATO allies have sunk to their lowest point in decades over a string of issues, including the detention of US pastor Andrew Brunson on terror-related charges, prompting the lira to hit record lows against the dollar.

The Turkish strongman also lashed out at interest rates, denounced them as a “tool of exploitation” which should be kept as low as possible.

The embattled lira tumbled 16 per cent against the dollar on Friday, falling further when US President Donald Trump said he had doubled steel and aluminium tariffs on Turkey.

“It is wrong to dare bring Turkey to its knees through threats over a pastor,” Erdogan said in the Black Sea town of Unye.

“Shame on you, shame on you,” he said in remarks directly addressed to Washington. “You are exchanging your strategic partner in NATO for a priest.”

Trump announced the punitive doubling of tariffs on Twitter, with the White House saying the sanctions would take effect from August 13.

In a second speech, this time in the Black Sea city of Rize, Erdogan ruled out any change in the country’s interest rates policy.

“Interest rates should be kept to a minimum because they are a tool of exploitation that makes the poor poorer and the rich richer,” he said.

The nominally independent central bank has defied pressure over the last few weeks to hike interest rates in the face of high inflation and a collapsing currency.

Erdogan has downplayed the currency crisis, urging Turks to convert any stashed-away gold or foreign currency into lira, thereby waging a “war of independence” against America.

“If they have the dollar, we have Allah,” he said.

Erdogan said high foreign exchange rates were being used as a weapon against Turkey.

“We know very well that the issue is not the dollar, the euro or gold.

“These are the bullets, cannonballs and missiles of an economic war waged against our country,” he said.

Ankara had already taken measures to respond and would continue doing so, he added.

In an op-ed published in the New York Times, Erdogan warned Washington not to risk its relations with Ankara, saying otherwise it would look for “new friends and allies”.

“Unless the United States starts respecting Turkey’s sovereignty and proves that it understands the dangers our nation faces, our partnership could be in jeopardy,” he wrote.