Turkish Central Bank Chief Asks President Erdogan to Relieve Her of Duties

The president of the Central Bank of Turkey, Murat Uysal, requested to be relieved of her position, citing a recent “defamation campaign” as the reason, from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Gaya Erkan, through her account on the “X” platform, announced on Friday evening that she had requested President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to relieve her from her position.

She added: “As is known to the public, I have held the position of President of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey since June 8, 2023… Being a daughter of this country, born and raised and educated on this land, when entrusted with this sacred duty, I came to my country and assumed my duty without caring about my personal circumstances. Of course, I was aware of that, and in order to serve our state and nation, I worked tirelessly day and night.

At this stage, our economic program began to bear fruit, our reserves increased, and economic data and inflation rate indicators improved. This was evidence of success.”

Despite all these positive developments, the public is aware that in recent times there has been a large campaign to assassinate my reputation, organized against me. In order to prevent further impact on my innocent family and my child, who is not even a year and a half old, I requested our honorable president (Erdogan) to exempt me from my duty, which I had been carrying out with utmost integrity since day one.

This was done through the esteemed Minister of Treasury and Finance (Mohammed Şimşek), who made me proud to be the first female president of the Central Bank in the Republic of Turkey. I am grateful to my colleagues who I worked tirelessly with for 9 months, where each of us worked diligently day and night.

She mentioned that after 22 years of managerial and banking experience in the private sector in America, she is grateful to her country and her nation for giving her “the greatest legacy she will leave for her children.”

Once again, she expressed her gratitude to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for giving her the opportunity to serve her country, and for his unwavering support throughout her tenure.

In his comment, the Turkish Vice President responsible for the economic dossier, Goudet Yilmaz, said: “We respect Gaia Erkan’s decision and will continue to acknowledge with great appreciation the work she has done during her presidency of the Central Bank.”

The Minister of Treasury and Finance, Mohammed Shemshak, commented that Gaia Irkan’s personal decision is purely her own choice and “we appreciate the efforts she has made during the past period.”

In recent days, Erdogan defended Gaye Erkan against wide criticism following allegations of her father’s involvement in official tasks at the central bank and giving him authority.

One of the employees of the protocol department at the bank filed a complaint to the presidency, stating that Gaye Erkan’s father, Erol Erkan, fired her from her position for not complying with his request to work with his daughter until late hours.

Last week, Erdogan stated in a speech in the capital city of Ankara: “They have started (referring to the opposition) launching campaigns of strange rumors that will undermine the climate of trust and stability in our economy, which we have achieved through great effort.” He indicated that he will ignore these campaigns without clarifying their source or purpose.