Question for Mehmet Şimşek on the March 19 operation: He did not answer, citing 'classified information'! The Ekrem İmamoğlu secret

The detention of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on March 19 not only created a political crisis but also deeply shook the economy. The detention process caused a major collapse in Borsa İstanbul and speculative movements in the foreign exchange market. The dollar surged instantly, and circuit breakers were triggered twice on the stock exchange. What happened during this process had been kept hidden for months.

MEHMET ŞİMŞEK'S 'CLASSIFIED INFORMATION' STATEMENT

CHP Mersin Deputy Gülcan Kış submitted a parliamentary question to Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek following this economic shock, seeking answers regarding the collapse in Borsa İstanbul and the speculative movements in foreign exchange. However, Minister Şimşek's response was that it was 'classified information.' Şimşek avoided providing concrete information in response to the questions and did not share any details regarding transactions, names, or times. Kış described this situation as "not transparency, but an attempt to cover up."

MANY DETAILS THAT SHOULD BE KNOWN WERE HIDDEN

Criticizing Minister Şimşek's response, Kış said, "We all know that the extraordinary fluctuation on March 19 caused an 8% loss on the stock exchange. However, no explanation was provided regarding figures, names, or transaction times in response to our questions. This is not just a lack of transparency; it is an attempt to cover up." Furthermore, although Şimşek's response mentioned the institutions that oversee stock market transactions—the CMB (SPK), Borsa İstanbul, and MASAK—no information was provided regarding what kind of investigation these institutions had initiated on the matter.

Emphasizing that Minister Şimşek used the excuse of "investigation confidentiality" to avoid informing the public, CHP's Kış stated, "Without violating confidentiality, basic information such as the number of transactions, the size range, and whether warning mechanisms were triggered should have been disclosed; however, they were not." Kış stated that there was no evidence that oversight mechanisms were functioning, adding that this sent a message to the markets that "unregulated profit is possible," which erodes trust in institutions.

POOR WAGE HIKE OFFER FOR CIVIL SERVANTS AND RETIREES

CHP's Gülcan Kış continued her criticisms of the government's economic management. Kış brought up the low wage hike offers made to civil servants and retirees at the collective bargaining table. She described the government's offer of 10%+6% (for 2026) and 4%+4% (for 2027), which ignored the demands of Memur-Sen, as a "policy of impoverishment." Kış criticized the government, saying, "There is waste in the Palace budget and unlimited resources for crony tenders, but when it comes to workers and civil servants, austerity policies are put into effect."

THE CENTRAL BANK COULD NOT HIDE THE TRUTH EITHER

The CHP deputy also criticized the revisions in the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey's (TCMB) Inflation Report. She stated that the Central Bank raising its 2026 inflation target from 12% to 16% and its 2027 target from 8% to 9% made the government's wage policies even more meaningless. "The raise the government offers to civil servants will melt away before it even enters their pockets. This is telling millions of employees to accept poverty," she said.

Gülcan Kış stated, "Silence on allegations of speculative profit, a crumb-like wage hike offer for civil servants and retirees, the Central Bank's upward inflation revision... They are all parts of the same picture," adding that the government is loading the bill for the economic crisis onto the shoulders of the public while protecting its cronies.