Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya has resigned from her role as deputy chair of Turkey's ruling AKP party. She is accused of selling shares for approximately $27.5 million shortly before a stock market crash on September 16.
The $27.5 milion windfall from Ozata Denizcilik
The controversy centers on a series of highly lucrative trades allegedly executed by Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya.. According to the report, Zeynel Emre, a spokesperson for the opposition New Party, claims that Kaya acquired shares in the shipbuilding firm Ozata Denizcilik in April for 63.4 million lira, or roughly $1.3 million. By the time she sold these assets shortly before the market plummeted, the value had surged to 1.3 billion lira, or $27.5 million.
This staggering return on investment has raised immediate red flags regarding the timing of the sales. The ability of a senior political figure to realize such a gain suggests a level of market foresight that often triggers investigations into the misuse of non-public information. For the Turkish public, the scale of the profit—turning $1.3 million into $27.5 million in a few months—serves as a lightning rod for accusations of corruption within the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
A Sept 16 crash and 76 legal proceedings
The financial turmoil began on September 16,when Turkish stocks experienced a sharp plunge. As reported in the source, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has since launched legal proceedings against 76 individuals. This wide-reaching investigation is specifically focused on seven investment funds suspected of engaging in share-price manipulation prior to the market decline .
This event is not an isolated incident of volatility but appears to be part of a broader pattern of suspected manipulation within the Turkish financial sector. When high-ranking officials like Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya are linked to the same timeline as a systemic crash, it suggests that the manipulation may have reached the highest echelons of political power. The involvement of seven different investment funds indicates a coordinated effort to inflate and then dump shares, leaving smaller investors to bear the brunt of the September 16 collapse.
Omer Celik and the AKP's pledge of accountability
The ruling AKP has moved quickly to distance itself from the scandal. AKP spokesman Omer Celik confirmed that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accepted the resignation of Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya on Sunday. Celik emphasized that the party holds anyone involved in wrongdoing accountable, stating that those involved in corruption, abuse, or irregularities that cause harm will face consequences.
This public stance is a strategic necessity for the AKP, as the resignation of a deputy chair—who also previously served as Turkey's family and social affairs minister from 2016 to 2018—threatens the party's image of stability. By framing the resignation as a commitment to accountability,the AKP is attempting to signal that the actions of Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya were an individual lapse rather than a party-wide practice of insider trading.
Unverified claims and Kaya's request for forgiveness
Despite the gravity of the accusations, several critical details remain unverified. Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya has not directly responded to the specific figures cited by Zeynel Emre regardnig the $27.5 million sale or the initial $1.3 million purchase. Instead, Kaya has requested forgiveness from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and stated that she is stepping down to allow the claims to be clarified.
The lack of a direct denial or a detailed explanation from Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya leaves open the question of whether she acted alone or was part of the larger manipulation scheme involving the 76 suspects.. Furthermore, it remains unclear if the Istanbul prosecutor's office has found a direct link between Kaya's trades and the seven investment funds currently under scrutiny. until the legal proceedings provide a paper trail, the public is left with only the opposition's figures and the ruling party's swift acceptance of a resignation.
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