You Won’t Be Able To Cover Up The Scam

Economy Service

The first resignations came approximately one month after the emergence of the fund embezzlement and stock market fraud scandal that has rocked the nation’s agenda.

Mahmut Sütçü, Chairman of the Capital Markets Board (SPK), resigned from his post. It was reported that Sütçü submitted his resignation citing ‘health issues’.

Alongside Sütçü, Deputy Minister of Treasury and Finance Osman Çelik also stepped down from his post. It has been learnt that Çelik submitted his retirement application to Minister Mehmet Şimşek as of yesterday.

As part of the investigation into the fund embezzlement, İskender Balcı – the son of Mustafa Balcı, a member of the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) and Osman Çelik’s son-in-law – was arrested on 2 October. The father of the detained İskender Balcı, Mustafa Balcı, is a former BDDK executive and currently serves on the BDDK Ethics Commission.

No action has been taken against Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya of the AKP, whose name has been mentioned in connection with stock market manipulation; Trade Minister Ömer Bolat; Osman Arıkan Nacar, who is alleged to be a close friend of AKP Spokesperson Ömer Çelik; Mustafa Yazıcı, the son of AKP Deputy Chairman Hayati Yazıcı; Fatih Kılınç, a close aide to Vice-President Cevdet Yılmaz; and Üsame Erdoğan, President Erdoğan’s nephew.

Claims that the money had been returned have also failed to cover up the scandalous network extending to the Presidential Palace. Whilst attempts have been made to quell the backlash with a resignation and a retirement request, demands for an effective investigation into this fraud—of a magnitude that will go down in the country’s history—and for the names of those who profited from the money to be revealed continue.

A sensational allegation concerning Ömer Gönül, the former Chairman of the Capital Markets Board (SPK), for whom an investigation authorisation had been issued, was published on the website ‘Bursa Saati’ before being removed. The article, titled ‘A Bribery Story’, detailed the tale of a 600 million dollar bribe demanded from an industrialist in Bursa who wished to list his company on the stock exchange. According to the report, the businessman, unable to bypass the bureaucracy to gain access to the stock exchange, explained the situation to Mehmet Atmaca, the Saadet Party MP for Bursa. Mehmet Atmaca then rang Ömer Gönül, the Chairman of the Capital Markets Board (SPK) at the time. Gönül said, “There are a few gaps in their documents; let them complete them and we’ll sort it out.” The manufacturer realised this meant ‘bribe’; after waiting a while, Atmaca rang Ömer Gönül again. “This man says that a few days after applying, they came to me asking for a bribe.

If this case is not taken up by the Board, I will submit a motion to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey alleging that you are also involved in this matter,” he said.

According to the allegation, the SPK, which normally meets every Tuesday, convened on Friday following this phone call and placed the case on the agenda. When two SPK members ruled in favour of rejecting the application, stating that “the firm is linked to FETÖ”, Atmaca relayed the situation to Refik Özen, the AKP MP for Bursa. Some time later, Özen rang, stating that Minister Şimşek was with him, and requested the firm’s details. When he rang again, however, he said: “Our Minister has spoken to the SPK Chairman. The FETÖ allegation has come up once again. Could you send the documents?”

Furthermore, the article stated that following the call from SPK Chairman Ömer Gönül, an MP who approached him demanded a bribe, saying, ‘That’s how it works. You’ll have to pay,’ and that the businessman paid 600,000 dollars.

Süleyman Soylu, an AKP MP for Istanbul and former Minister of the Interior, attended the ground-breaking ceremony for the Yeşil Mosque Qur’an Course held in the Bayrampaşa district of Istanbul on 18 October. Speaking there about the embezzlement of funds, Soylu made a reference to the Aziz Hüdayi Foundation, affiliated with the Erenköy Community, which had used the phrase “We Do Not Accept Social Decay”.

In his speech, Soylu stated, “Decay is attributed to the West, but never to us. No one can corrupt this country, no one,” he stated. Criticising “the making of negative judgements about society as a whole based on individual mistakes”, Soylu said, “If we generalise these mistakes to the whole, we will cause the destruction of society.”

The Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi Foundation had published a statement on 13 October entitled “We Do Not Accept Social Decay! A Call to Remain Human’ on 13 October.

The foundation, which is associated with the Erenköy community, has addressed recent events in Turkey through the lens of ‘social decay’, levelling criticisms on a wide range of issues, from fund investigations to drugs, online gambling, education and family life.

In its statement, the foundation argued that the fund crisis was not merely an economic issue, stating: “The fund crisis has signalled that decay has spread to our wallets.” The statement claimed that the fund crisis was the result of a lack of oversight, turning a blind eye and favouritism; it emphasised that those responsible for corruption must be held to account, whoever they may be.

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Vurgunun üstünü örtemeyeceksiniz, published in BirGün newspaper on October 20, 2026.