Ministry responds to allegations regarding Mehmet Şimşek and Emre Tezmen: No commercial ties exist

The Ministry of Treasury and Finance has issued a statement regarding allegations that Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek has a business relationship with Emre Tezmen, the controlling shareholder of Tera Group. The Ministry stated that Şimşek has no partnership, commercial ties, or business relationship with Tezmen in the UK or anywhere else.

The allegations surfaced in the public eye after Cumhuriyet columnist Barış Terkoğlu wrote about applications filed by former MASAK Deputy Head Ramazan Başak regarding Tera Yatırım. Terkoğlu wrote that Başak had filed an application with CİMER regarding Tera Yatırım on July 30, 2025, 14 months before the fund crisis occurred, and had filed a criminal complaint with the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on January 5, 2026.

According to Terkoğlu, Başak stated in his criminal complaint that he believed Tera Yatırım and its group companies were "being protected and/or that there was a necessity to protect them." It was noted that Başak's petition included the following statements regarding Emre Tezmen: "In many of his conversations, he has stated repeatedly, in environments where I was personally present, that he is a very close friend of the Minister of Treasury and Finance and that they have business dealings together in the UK."

DENIAL FROM THE MINISTRY

In its statement, the Ministry of Treasury and Finance noted that untrue insinuations were made about Minister Mehmet Şimşek in a newspaper column "based on words attributed to another person in an individual's petition."

The statement emphasized that Şimşek has had no commercial relationship with the aforementioned brokerage firm or its owners and managers, either before or after his public service. The Ministry noted that no such relationship exists in the UK or any other country.

The Ministry also reported that Şimşek worked in the research unit of Merrill Lynch between 2000 and 2007, and that this position did not include the authority to establish commercial relationships or award business to any institution. The statement expressed that a global bank working with numerous brokerage firms in Turkey at an institutional level does not mean that there is a personal business relationship between Şimşek and any individual.

The Ministry's statement said, "The claim that a person used our Minister's name to gain an impression of reputation or influence does not show that there is any relationship with our Minister. If such a situation is the case, the responsibility belongs to that person." At the end of the statement, it was noted that legal rights against untrue allegations are reserved.

News Source: 12punto