As inflation grips Turkey, Erdogan struggles to contain fund scandal
The scandal rocking Turkey centers on allegations that investment funds were used to manipulate the market, driving certain stock prices far beyond their value to generate astronomical gains.
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ANKARA — Amid an ongoing outcry, the Turkish government is allowing senior appointees to face the fallout from a widening fund scandal, but those steps have yet to placate public anger, with polls suggesting discontent is spreading among the ruling party’s own voters.
Sahap Kavcioglu, the head of Turkey’s Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, submitted his resignation on Wednesday. Opposition lawmakers have been pressing for an investigation into him and his organization for granting bank establishment permits to financial groups that are implicated in the scandal.
His resignation is the latest in a series of departures of senior financial officials as Turkey’s financial regulators face accusations that they failed to prevent the scandal involving more than $20 billion that erupted in September. Ahead of Kavcioglu, Mahmut Sutcu, the chief of Turkey’s capital markets watchdog SPK, resigned on Oct. 19. His predecessor, Ibrahim Omer Gonul, was also removed from his post as Turkey’s accounting and auditing watchdog on Oct. 20. So far, more than 120 people have been detained in the investigation into the scandal, including at least eight current and former officials from financial regulators.
