The Turkish Lira Is Getting Banged Up

The U.S. dollar is up more than 1.3% against the Turkish lira this afternoon in North American trading as political tensions resurface in Turkey.

A tape recording that allegedly contains the voice of Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussing how to launder a large sum of money is making the rounds on the Internet.

Erdogan's office has released a statement saying the recording is not real, calling it a "montage."

Haluk Koç, deputy chairman of the opposition Republican People's Party, called on Erdogan to resign following the surfacing of the tape.

This marks the latest episode in an ongoing corruption probe that has helped the lira depreciate to a series of record lows against the dollar over the past few months.

The chart below shows the surge in the dollar-lira exchange rate this afternoon.