Turkish Finance Minister, Mehmet Şimşek, has categorically denied that he is considering resigning from his post, as claimed by the leader of the opposition, Özgür Özel, who during a demonstration organised yesterday in Istanbul claimed that Şimşek wanted to renounce his position in the government.
‘I continue to fulfil my duty. We will continue to take all the measures necessary for the healthy functioning of the markets. Please ignore any baseless information,’ the minister declared through his official profile on the social network X, as quoted by the Turkish media.
Özel, during a demonstration held in Saraçhane – in the historic district of Fatih – against the imprisonment of the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu, went so far as to say that ‘Mehmet Şimşek is struggling not to resign’ due to alleged disagreements with the government led by Tayyip Erdoğan. ‘While I dig with a needle, they cover it up with a shovel,’ said the leader of the opposition CHP party, airing an alleged conflict between Şimşek and the rest of the executive over the implementation of his reforms in the Turkish economy. “Either he resigns or he submits to Mr Tayyip (Erdoğan),” Özel insisted to his followers.
For his part, Turkish Vice-President Cevdet Yılmaz assured via social media that ‘the foundations of the economy are solid’, highlighting the reduction in the deficit despite the impact caused by public spending following the earthquakes that devastated south-eastern Turkey in 2023, adding that the Central Bank has sufficient reserves available. ‘We are continuing to implement our economic programme with determination,’ said Yılmaz, who gave assurances that all necessary measures are being taken to guarantee the stability of the markets.
16% fall on the Istanbul Stock Exchange
The news of the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul last week unleashed a storm on the Istanbul Stock Exchange, where the BIST 100 stock index ended Friday with a fall of 16.6% –its worst fall since the global financial crisis of 2008– and the Turkish lira lost 3% of its value against the dollar.
Late on Sunday, the Capital Markets Board (SPK) announced the decision to ban short sales of all shares on the Istanbul stock exchange, and at the same time relaxed share buyback restrictions and capital ratio requirements until 25 April, in order to prevent further capital losses.
With these and other measures, the markets seemed to have regained tranquillity and the Istanbul Stock Exchange appeared to recover a small part of the losses suffered in recent days, with a general rise in Turkish assets: at the opening of the Stock Exchange, share prices had risen by 3.2%, and at 16:00 local time (14:00 CET) the rise was around 1%.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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