The governor of the Central Bank of Turkey, Hafize Gaye Erkan, in office for less than a year, announced her resignation on Friday in a statement posted on social networks, following a scandal involving her family.
The banker is accused by several Turkish media of having granted advantages to her family within the institution, which she denies. She explains in the press release that she asked President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to be freed from (her) functions, which she has fulfilled with honor since the first day.
The 44-year-old governor, the first woman in this position and renowned for her expertise in the United States, took office at the beginning of June after the re-election of President Erdogan. She is notably accused of having allowed his father to illegally make decisions within the central bank.
An office, a company car and bodyguards would have been granted to the governor’s father, Erol Erkan, whose orders no one dares to oppose, Turkish newspapers also reported.
A campaign to ruin my reputation has been organized against me
According to observers, she incurred the wrath of President Erdogan when she told a Turkish daily in December that she was forced to return to live with her parents, with her children and her husband, because of inflation and the boom in real estate in Turkey.
A campaign aimed at ruining my reputation was organized against me, she underlines in the press release. She adds that she made the decision to resign to protect (her) family and (her) innocent baby, aged less than 18 months.
The attacks targeting the banker, very popular in economic circles, worry investors and raise the long-term question of the loyalty of the Head of State towards his collaborators.
Ms. Erkan had lived for two decades in the United States where she studied before taking up her position in Ankara as part of a team of respected economists, trained in particular on Wall Street, responsible for getting Turkey out of the crisis where inflation reached almost 65% in 2023.