Gold plays a major role in Turkish culture, particularly at weddings and other milestones, while also serving as a way for families to protect their savings.

Many Turks keep physical gold at home, a practice known as yastık altı, because of years of high inflation, currency devaluations and past banking crises.

Economists say this behavior is a rational response to economic instability, even as Turkish officials warn that large amounts of wealth held outside the banking system can hurt the country’s financial system, NPR has reported.

With inflation around 31% and the Turkish lira continuing to lose value, gold has remained a popular form of financial protection.

Turkish households are estimated to hold about 5,000 tons of gold worth roughly $600 billion at current prices.