Central Bank Governor Hafize Gaye Erkan resigned. Erkan said, “I have asked our President for my pardon from my duty, which I have carried out with honor since the first day.”
Hafize Gaye Erkan, Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, announced that she has resigned from her position she has held since June 8, 2023. Informing the public with a statement on her social media account, Erkan stated that she was proud to serve her country throughout her tenure.
Stating that despite the difficulties faced by the economy during his tenure, the economic program has started to yield positive results and the increase in reserves is a proof of this success, Erkan announced that he decided to resign in order to reduce the impact of the recent campaign of reputation assassination on his family and his son who has not yet turned one and a half years old.
Kamuoyunun malumu olduğu üzere 8 Haziran 2023 tarihinden bu yana Türkiye Cumhuriyet Merkez Bankası Başkanlığı görevini sürdürmekteyim.
Her bir karış toprağı için bedel ödenmiş bu topraklarda doğmuş, büyümüş, eğitim görmüş bir vatan evladı olarak, bu kutsal görev şahsıma tevdi…
— Hafize Gaye Erkan (@hafizegayeerkan) February 2, 2024
Erkan, who made history as the first female Governor of the Central Bank, thanked his colleagues who worked day and night during his nine-month tenure and the authorities who entrusted him with this duty. Stating that she was grateful for the opportunity to serve her country after 22 years of management and banking experience in the private sector in the US, Erkan expressed her gratitude to the President for his support.
Hafize Gaye Erkan’s surprise resignation has been widely reverberated in economic circles and public opinion. Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek issued a press release on social media.
Hazine ve Maliye Bakanımız Sayın Mehmet ŞİMŞEK'in ( @memetsimsek ) Basın Açıklaması – 02.02.2024https://t.co/eMfC3CT7ma pic.twitter.com/V5FJfopH4K
— T.C. Hazine ve Maliye Bakanlığı (@HMBakanligi) February 2, 2024
WHAT HAPPENED?
Central Bank employee Büşra Bozkurt had filed a complaint to CİMER claiming that she was dismissed by Erol Erkan. Bozkurt claimed that Erol Erkan had been made an unofficial manager at the bank and that he was influential in matters such as the hiring, dismissal and transfer of employees. He also said that Erol Erkan was allocated a room, a bodyguard and an office car at the bank. Following these allegations, a senior Central Bank official, who did not wish to be named, claimed that social facilities for the bank’s employees were allocated to Hafize Gaye Erkan’s family.
GAYE ERKAN HAD REFRAINED FROM DIRECTLY RESPONDING TO THE ALLEGATIONS
Upon these allegations, Hafize Gaye Erkan made a statement on her social media account. Erkan denied the allegations and expressed her astonishment and sadness over the unfounded allegations, saying, “In recent days, there have been deliberate, untrustworthy and untrue news circulated against our Bank by targeting me and my family.” She also stated that she would use her legal rights against these allegations. He also stated that he would use his legal rights against these allegations. It was noteworthy that Erkan denied the news about the petition without mentioning the allegations in the petition and the Central Bank employee who is the owner of the allegations.
