Statement from Türkiye İş Bankası regarding claims of a trustee: 'It is in accordance with equity'

In the statement made by the bank, it was said, "No credence should be given to speculative, untrue statements and claims that have recently appeared on social media channels, which are intended to damage the reputation and standing of our Bank, influence the decisions and behaviors of investors, and also constitute a crime under capital markets legislation and banking legislation."

The written statement from İş Bankası is as follows:

"This press release has been deemed appropriate to correctly inform our shareholders, customers, and domestic and foreign investors due to claims and rhetoric that are contrary to material and legal facts, alleging that the will of the Great Atatürk has been violated through the bank's founder usufruct shares, that the institutions benefiting from the will have been deliberately harmed, and that our Bank has acted unlawfully.

The founder usufruct shares, which are regulated in Article 22 of our Bank's Articles of Association, are not legally in the nature of shares but are in the nature of usufruct shares. Founder usufruct shares do not legally represent any share in the capital, do not grant their holder shareholder rights such as the right to attend the general assembly or voting rights, and only provide property rights.

As a matter of fact, the aforementioned article of our Bank's Articles of Association states that one founder usufruct share will be given to those who purchase 100 shares at once from the shares to be issued at the time of establishment. The same article also regulates that this right exists up to a capital of four million, and that no founder usufruct shares will be given if the capital is increased beyond this amount; after the capital reached this amount in 1927, no more founder usufruct shares were issued.

With the decision taken by its shareholders at the time at the Extraordinary General Assembly of our Bank dated 31.05.1991, a capital increase was carried out, and an amendment was made to Article 58 of our Articles of Association in accordance with legal legislation and Supreme Court precedents, limiting the dividend payments to be distributed to the holders of founder usufruct shares to the '250 Thousand TL portion of the paid-in capital.' The aforementioned amendment to the Articles of Association has become a provision that we are legally obliged to implement for our Bank by being registered. Therefore, the profit distributions made since the relevant date have been implemented with the knowledge and under the supervision of the legally authorized authorities to which our Bank is subject, taking into account this registered amendment to the Articles of Association.

Moreover, since the holders of founder usufruct shares did not participate in the capital increase, it is also an action in accordance with equity that they do not receive dividends from the increased capital.

"IT HAS BEEN TAKEN TO THE JUDICIARY"

More than 30 years after our Bank's 1991 General Assembly and the amendment to the Articles of Association, a number of people, who are thought to be acting together and who acquired our Bank's founder usufruct shares while knowing the current conditions, in other words, the nature of the founder usufruct share and the scope of the rights it provides to its holder, have begun to put forward a number of speculative claims and objections regarding the aforementioned Articles of Association article and its implementation regarding profit distribution, and these speculative claims and objections have been taken to the judiciary through unfair lawsuits filed by these people.

The plaintiffs, who are thought to be acting together, in an effort to gain public attention and gather supporters in an attempt to profit from the founder usufruct shares they acquired, have also made misleading claims and unfair accusations regarding the will of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, which have no material and/or legal basis, and have filed various civil lawsuits with petitions and demands that are almost all identical in content, as well as filing criminal complaints.

All decisions rendered to date in the ongoing judicial processes are currently in favor of our Bank in accordance with procedure and law, and the completion of the legal processes is awaited.

"AS REQUIRED BY ATATÜRK'S WILL..."

As is known, in accordance with the will of the Great Atatürk, who is also the founder of our Bank, the entire dividend falling to Atatürk's shares is paid by our Bank to the Turkish Language Association and the Turkish Historical Society in full and on time, and all of our Bank's transactions in the entire process take place under the knowledge and supervision of the relevant authorities. Likewise, the lawsuits filed by the same people against our Bank before the Civil Courts of Peace alleging that the will was violated have also been definitively rejected.

In this context, no credence should be given to speculative, untrue statements and claims that have recently appeared on social media channels, which are intended to damage the reputation and standing of our Bank, influence the decisions and behaviors of investors, and also constitute a crime under capital markets legislation and banking legislation.

"WE WILL TAKE LEGAL ACTION"

Our Bank is a deep-rooted institution that carries out its activities in accordance with the law, legal regulations, morality, and ethical values. We present to the public's information that no credence should be given to such news, claims, and comments, and that our Bank will take legal action against all relevant parties who provide the aforementioned lies, false or misleading information, start rumors, make comments, or spread them.

Sincerely"