Halkbank head resigned upon Turkish PM’s requests amid nepotism claims: Report

ISTANBUL

Halkbank Chairman Hasan Cebeci left his position last August upon a request from Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu amid claims of nepotism, according to a report by Turkish daily Posta.

Cebeci, who said at the time that he submitted his resignation due to health problems, was replaced by Recep Süleyman Özdil. 

His resignation was, however, not due to health problems and PM Davutoğlu personally asked Cebeci to leave the position as the chair had reportedly hired a number of his relatives for several positions in the state-run Halkbank, one of Turkey’s largest tenders, according to the Posta report. 

Upon several rumors, Davutoğlu asked for a brief research about whether any of Cebeci’s relatives worked at Halkbank. The research showed that around a dozen of his relatives were hired by the bank, according to sources close to the matter, as reported by Posta. 

Davutoğlu then asked him to leave, sources said.