TURKISH President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is sending a delegation to Washington amid a currency crisis worsened by US sanctions, with the Turkish lira hitting a new low yesterday.

A Foreign Ministry source confirmed that Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal will lead discussions as tensions between the Nato allies escalate.

US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Turkey’s justice minister and interior minister last week, blaming them for the arrest of US pastor Andrew Brunson, who is accused of supporting exiled cleric Fetullah Gulen, the former Erdogan ally whom Ankara holds responsible for a failed coup attempt in 2016.

Over the weekend, the US government’s trade agency suggested Turkey’s duty-free access to the US market could be at risk after Ankara imposed retaliatory tariffs on US goods in response to tariffs on steel and aluminium.

Up to $1.7 billion (£1.3 billion) of Turkish exports could be affected, worsening the country’s unstable economy.

Opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kilic Kilicdaroglu condemned the sanctions last week, calling for dialogue to resolve bilateral differences, reminding Washington that the two countries were allies.

He signed a joint statement with the leaders of the ruling Justice & Development Party (AKP), the Good Party and the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) declaring: “No to the US threats, with common solidarity and determination of our nation.”

But Labour Party of Turkey (EMEP) general secretary Selma Gurkan rejected any common interest between Turkey and the Trump administration, demanding an end to the sanctions and for the US to “stop interfering in Turkey and within the region.”

Ms Gurkan explained that Mr Erdogan “and the capitalist forces behind him” use such interventions to rally the Turkish people behind his “single man’s regime and warmongering expansionist policies.”

It is the “exploited and oppressed Turkish, Kurdish and Arab people of the region suffer the results” of the deepening political crisis, she warned.

The Turkish lira made a brief recovery today after it dropped as low as 5.425 against the US dollar late yesterday, but, despite the recovery, analysts remained pessimistic.

Commerzbank spokesman for Ulrich Leuchtmann warned: “We do not consider the Turkish central bank’s measure yesterday to be suited to take the pressure off the currency.”

And he raised concern over the bank’s lack of independence, saying: “It clearly does not dare to raise interest rates or it is not allowed to do so any longer.”