CHP’s campaign against Albayrak targets me, my family: Erdoğan

İZMİR

The main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) campaign regarding former Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak aims to target the president and his family, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Feb. 22 stressing that the transactions of the central bank in his term were in line with the law.

“Recently, the CHP has been carrying out a campaign targeting former treasury and finance minister and my entire family, including me. At first, we ignored this campaign,” Erdoğan said, speaking at his party’s provincial congress in the western province of İzmir.

“However, it has now become obligatory for us to respond back to this [campaign] as it has now exceeded beyond the political dimension and has come to the extent of attacking our families, our fundamental rights and freedoms,” he added.

In a social media campaign, the CHP claimed that Albayrak, who is President Erdoğan’s son-in-law, depleted the central bank reserves.

The main opposition also questions the whereabouts of the former minister following his disappearance from the public eye after his resignation in November, 2020.

Transactions over the central bank’s reserves were carried out in accordance with the regulation, Erdoğan emphasized.

“There is no question of money evaporated or abuse. Foreign currency transactions were carried out in line with the market rules and law,” the president said, noting that these financial operations enabled Turkey to stick to its monetary goals during global financial fluctuations.

Erdoğan defended the capacity of Albayrak as an energy minister and finance minister, saying that the reason for criticisms towards Albayrak was because he was not a politician.

“If Mr. Berat had carried out this duty as a politician, evaluations on him could be more objective,” the president stated.

“His biggest misfortune is that the title of the groom has preceded his efforts and background,” he added.

Many practices to make Turkey’s economy stronger were realized during the term of Albayrak, Erdoğan said.

“Among these, one of the things that I see as very important is the development of new models in participating companies and the diversification of interest-free finance models in participation companies,” he stated, referring to the participation banking model of Islamic finance tools.