Erdogan opens half-empty financial hub in Istanbul ahead of polls

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened a $3.4 billion financial center in Istanbul on Monday as he pledged a “new financial ecosystem” for economic crisis-hit Turkey.

“Istanbul Financial Center (IFC) will create a new ecosystem by linking three continents. It will increase the country’s potential to attract investment by facilitating international capital flows,” Erdogan told a large audience of ministers, economy bureaucrats and the public.