Ex-Borsa İstanbul Chairman Turhan under investigation

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has announced that an ex officio investigation has been launched into İbrahim Mustafa Turhan, a former AK Party Member of Parliament, former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, and former Chairman of the Board and General Manager of Borsa İstanbul.

In the statement from the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, it was noted that an examination of posts appearing on certain social media platforms and reflected in the public domain revealed content that could potentially cause "fear and panic" among investors regarding capital market instruments.

Following findings that posts appearing on certain social media platforms and reflected in the public domain contained content that could directly or indirectly cause fear and panic among investors regarding capital market instruments, our Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an ex officio investigation into İbrahim Mustafa Turhan, the user of the account '@ibrahimmturhan2'.

It was reported that the investigation was initiated following evaluations Turhan made on his social media account. In his post regarding the decline in Borsa İstanbul exceeding 6 percent, Turhan had stated that he did not see a "fundamental and structural risk" in the capital market.

In his post, Turhan argued that the Turkish economy is strong, that there is no risk affecting all publicly traded companies, and that companies without profitability and free cash flow problems are in good condition.

Using the phrase "One must remain calm" in his post, Turhan stated that investors acting in panic could cause the greatest harm to themselves, and that this could also lead to market deterioration and make the problem appear larger than it is.

Turhan also wrote that current stock market developments could be evaluated within the framework of capital movements experienced in emerging markets following the 1997 Asian crisis and the 1998 Russian crisis.