Turkey’s Stock Scandal Resignation Does Not Show Impartial Justice
Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya resigned as deputy chair of Turkey’s ruling AKP amid allegations that she and her husband made large stock market gains before a market collapse. Pro-government media presented the resignation as evidence of accountability, but the article argues that the courts’ treatment of opposition figures, including detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, suggests otherwise. Imamoglu has been in pre-trial detention since March 2025 on charges he denies and calls politically motivated.
Kaya and her spouse reportedly invested about 163 million lira in April, then sold holdings worth roughly 2.17 billion lira around five months later, shortly before the mid-September market collapse. She resigned as AKP deputy chair, saying she accepted political responsibility while allegations were clarified.
The fund crisis involved 131 investment funds and 455,758 investors, with assets estimated at $18 billion to over $20 billion. Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has been in pre-trial detention since March 2025; he denies corruption charges and calls them politically motivated.
The affair may deepen public distrust in Turkey’s markets and courts, especially among the hundreds of thousands of fund investors facing losses. If the resignation is viewed as symbolic while opposition figures remain detained, perceptions of unequal justice could harden, affecting political polarization and investor confidence. The longer-term social impact remains uncertain.