Şahap Kavcıoğlu, head of Türkiye’s Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), announced on Wednesday that he had asked President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to relieve him of his post, citing recent claims about the agency and himself, Euronews Türkçe, ANKA news agency and Ekonomi Gazetesi reported.
In a post on social media, Kavcıoğlu said he had asked to step down "so that our institution is not worn down any further", and thanked Erdoğan for entrusting him with his duties, according to ANKA and Ekonomi Gazetesi.
No successor named yet
No successor had been named by the time of writing, Memurlar.net and Ortadoğu Gazetesi reported. Both outlets said the head of the BDDK is appointed by presidential decision, published in the Official Gazette (Resmi Gazete).
Asked about the resignation in parliament on Wednesday afternoon, AK Party group chair Abdullah Güler said he would submit a bill on Thursday and give a detailed explanation then, according to Anadolu Agency (AA, as published by BirGün) and ANKA. The remarks came after a meeting with Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş on the planned parliamentary monitoring commission.
Fund investigation reached the regulator
The departure follows the investigation by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office into investment funds, in which BDDK deputy chairman Muhammet Erişen and two department heads at the agency have been arrested, Euronews Türkçe, Memurlar.net and Serbestiyet reported. We reported earlier on the detention of Erişen, and on the detention of Borsa Istanbul’s general manager in the same inquiry.
On 30 October, AK Party politician Savcı Sayan made allegations on social media against Kavcıoğlu, including claims linked to a loan from Takasbank, according to Euronews Türkçe, Memurlar.net and Serbestiyet. The BDDK said the same day that the claims about the agency and its head were baseless, and Kavcıoğlu denied wrongdoing in an interview with the daily Sözcü and said he had filed a criminal complaint against Sayan, the three outlets reported.
Former central bank governor
Kavcıoğlu, a former AK Party member of parliament for Bayburt, was governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) from March 2021 until June 2023, when he was appointed to head the BDDK, according to Euronews Türkçe and Serbestiyet; Memurlar.net gave the same dates.
Earlier this month the BDDK revoked the licence of an investment bank.
Sources
- BDDK Başkanı Şahap Kavcıoğlu istifa etti: ‘Kurumun daha fazla yıpranmaması için’ (Euronews Türkçe)
- BDDK Başkanı Şahap Kavcıoğlu istifa etti (ANKA)
- BDDK Başkanı Kavcıoğlu istifa etti (Ekonomi Gazetesi)
- BDDK Başkanı Şahap Kavcıoğlu Görevinden Ayrıldı (Memurlar.net)
- Görevi bırakması istendi: BDDK Başkanı Kavcıoğlu istifa etti (Serbestiyet)
- BDDK Başkanı Şahap Kavcıoğlu neden istifa etti, yerine kim atandı? (Ortadoğu Gazetesi)
- AKP Grup Başkanı Güler’den "Şahap Kavcıoğlu" sorusuna yanıt: Yarın konuşacağım (BirGün / AA)
- Numan Kurtulmuş, Meclis İzleme Komisyonu için AK Parti Grubu’nu ziyaret etti (GazeteKalem / ANKA)
Photo: Mimar77 / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
