Turkish Central Bank Governor Resigns to Protect Family, Erdogan Rushes to Appoint Successor
The governor of the Turkish Central Bank, Hafeezah Arkan, announced her resignation from the position she had held for less than a year. She stated that her decision came in response to a campaign to “tarnish her reputation,” amid accusations of granting favors to her family.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan swiftly appointed her deputy, Fatiha Karahan, as the new governor of the Central Bank.
Meanwhile, Turkish Finance Minister Mohammad Shemshk declared in a statement that the current economic program would continue without interruption, emphasizing that Arkan’s resignation was a personal decision.
Arkan stated in a release, “I have asked the President to relieve me of my duties that I have proudly held since day one.” She added, “A campaign has recently been orchestrated to tarnish my reputation,” indicating that she resigned to “protect her innocent family and her child, who is not even a year and a half old, from being impacted by this campaign.”
Fatiha Karahan, the new governor of the Turkish Central Bank (Anadolu)
Erdogan had appointed Arkan as the governor of the Turkish Central Bank in June last year, making her the first woman to hold this position. Since then, she has overseen the bank’s decisions to increase the benchmark interest rate from 8.5% to 45%.
According to Agence France-Presse, Arkan, 44, has been the target of a campaign on social media and in opposition newspapers, accusing her of allowing her father to make unauthorized decisions within the institution.
The agency also reported that there were accounts of the financial official provoking the anger of the Turkish President after she made a statement to a local newspaper in January last year, stating that she had to return to live with her parents with her son and husband due to inflation and rising property prices in Turkey.
