Özel vows to expose those behind fund scandal

ANKARA

Opposition leader Özgür Özel (AA Photo)

Opposition leader Özgür Özel said on Sept. 30 his New Party had established working groups to probe an investment fund scandal that has shaken Türkiye’s financial markets and vowed to pursue those responsible for losses suffered by investors.

“Who multiplied the money? It is the responsibility of the state to catch and identify them. As the opposition, we will pursue this matter in the most serious way,” Özel said after a meeting with New Party lawmakers in Ankara.

The scandal has shaken Türkiye’s financial markets and prompted authorities to investigate alleged irregularities involving investment funds.

“We have established working groups. We will work both domestically and abroad, and if a parliamentary commission is established, we will fight there,” Özel said.

“We will exhaust all possibilities and, in one way or another, either expose those who stole this nation’s money ourselves or expose them one by one with the authority our nation gives us after the election.”

The Capital Markets Board (SPK) ordered the liquidation of 131 funds on Sept. 17, affecting about 455,000 individual investors, according to figures reported by Turkish authorities.

“Those next to you have robbed the people, how did you not know? The stock market has collapsed, the funds have blown up, how did you not know?” Özel said.

“If you knew, you are directly responsible. If you did not know, you no longer have the ability to govern. Get off this nation’s back immediately.”

The controversy intensified after ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy leader Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya resigned from her party posts on Sept. 26 following allegations concerning her stock transactions.

Sayan Kaya and her husband, İlyas Kaya, have been accused of making large gains from shares in shipbuilder Özata Denizcilik shortly before broader turmoil hit the financial markets.

Özel described the allegations involving Sayan Kaya as “only the visible tip of the iceberg” and accused the AKP of operating a “Ponzi scheme.”

He cited the connections of executives at Tera Portföy as examples of what he described as the government’s responsibility for the crisis. Özel referred to Emre Alkin, a detained board member of Tera Portföy who had served on the Presidential Academic Advisory Council, as well as another board member, Kerem Alkin, who had been appointed as Türkiye’s permanent representative to the OECD and had held positions at the Türkiye Wealth Fund and Halkbank.

Özel said the fund scandal had cost the Turkish economy $90 billion and described it as “the robbery of the century.”