ISTANBUL (Medyascope) – Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya, deputy chairwoman of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), resigned over the weekend amidst a financial scandal involving the Istanbul Stock Exchange that is estimated to have affected some 450,000 people.
By Leo Kendrick • Medyascope
n recent weeks, the drastic appreciation of stocks at the Istanbul Stock Exchange, some nearing 700%, was followed by a sharp market drop on September 16th.
The drop totaled some $18 billion and affected an estimated 450,000 people, some of whom saw their savings evaporate overnight.
On September 26th, Turkey’s opposition YENİ Party alleged that Kaya had sold off around $27.5 million in stocks shortly before the crash, implying Kaya had been engaging in insider trading.
The same day, Kaya issued her resignation, which was accepted the following day (September 27) by Erdoğan.
The AKP has promised a full investigation into the matter, while YENİ Party chair Özgür Özel has demanded an explanation as to whether Erdoğan and other high ranking AKP officials were involved in or aware of the plan. Other opposition figures have decried the ongoing investigation and pre-trial detention of dozens of opposition officials on alleged corruption charges while Kaya remains free following her resignation.
Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya
Kaya’s resignation from her #2 post was a notable exception to normal AKP practice, as Turkey’s ruling party rarely sees high-profile resignations.
Prior to her role as AKP Deputy Chairwoman, Kaya served as Turkey’s Minister of Family Affairs from 2016-2018.
Long known as an AKP firebrand, Kaya was previously involved in controversy in 2017, when she was declared a persona non grata in the Netherlands. Kaya had attempted to travel to the country in order to campaign for Turkey’s presidential system referendum that year, despite a ban on Turkish campaign rallies by Dutch officials.
Erdoğan’s deputy party chair resigns amidst widening financial scandal | Written/translated by Leo Kendrick | Edited by Medyascope English Newsroom
