Debate on $128 billion spent from Turkish reserves heats up

As the debate over some $128 billion spent from the reserves last year heats up, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said he was “not content with” a recent statement by Central Bank Gov. Şahap Kavcıoğlu.
“The Central Bank should have made this statement long ago. No statement has been made on this issue since 2016,” Kılıçdaroğlu said in an interview İpek Özbey from Cumhuriyet newspaper on April 17, This has been asked many times. What we want from the very beginning is the date on which the Central Bank sold foreign exchange, how much it sold and who bought it. Shallow explanations would not satisfy the pubilc. Therefore, we still want to find out to whom and at what rate the $128 billion was sold. Because that money is not someone’s personal money. That money is directly the people’s money. It is 83 million people’s money and therefore 83 million have the right to know the fate of this money ”.
The CHP –and other opposition parties– have been questioning the sale of reserves last year during the tenure of Erdoğan’s son-in-law Berat Albayrak as the Treausury and Finance Minister in a bid to defend the government’s low-interest rate policy that finally sent the value of the Turkish Lira to historic lows. The sale did ton stop the greenback’s gains against the lira until Lütfi Elvan replaced Albayrak, as Naci Ağbal, yet another leading figure in former governments under Erdoğan, became the bank governor to replace outgoing Murat Uysal in September last year. However, on March 20, Ağbal was also replaced by Kavcıoğlu amid rumors that he would investigate the fate of the spent bank reserves.

Statement by Central Bank governor

As a result of the increasing opposition pressure, Central Bank Gov. Kavcıoğlu, told the state-run Anadolu Agency on April 16 that the bank “contributed to the prevention of unhealthy price formation, supply-demand balance in foreign exchange markets and liquidity establishment.”
“The mentioned foreign exchange transactions were carried out on the trading platforms within the framework of the current market conditions and prices. It is out of question that any privileged foreign exchange transactions were granted to any section, bank or company.”

“Will native Indians also comment,” İYİ Party asks

Opposition İYİ Party’s (Good Party) İzmir lawmaker and chief advisor to the party chair, Meral Akşener, argued that the AKP’s unauthorized people were responding to related questions. He raised 15 questions addressing Minister Lütfi Elvan.
“A voice is heard from every authorized and unauthorized mind. “Only the native Indians have not explained where the $128 billion is,” he said ironically.
Fahrettin Altun, the head of the Presidency of Communications, said the questions and the campaign of the opposition was “slander.”
“We have not lost a single penny. All transactions and figures are transparent. Turkey, despite all the lies and slander campaigns will grow steadily! ” he said on his Twitter account.

CHP and AKP banners taken down

Meanwhile, a chase is taking place regarding the “Where is $128 billion” banners hung by the CHP in various provinces. Governors and district governors in various provinces requested all banners to be removed “within the scope of pandemic measures”. The bans are applied not only to CHP placards but all posters, posters, flyers and brochures.
The CHP leader compared the situation to the conditions after military coups in the country’s past. “We live in the period of civil coup, what was not in the period of a military coup. They want to obscure the robbing of the Central Bank from the public eye” he told Cumhuriyet.
An interesting development regarding the banners took place in the Central Anatolian province of Karaman. The banner that was hung on the CHP Karaman headquarters’ wall was removed for “pandemic reasons.” According to a report on daily Sözcü, the CHP then raised a complaint about the “Love Erdogan” banner hung on the ruling Justice and Development Party (CHP) provincial headquarters, and this banner was also taken down for the same reason.