Former Turkish minister Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya remanded in custody over fund probe

Arrest of a former minister

Turkish authorities have arrested Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya, a former family and social policies minister and former deputy chair of the ruling AK Party (AKP). Istanbul prosecutors are investigating her for violating the Capital Markets Law and for membership in a criminal organization, according to the state news agency Anadolu. She was taken into custody on Thursday, 5 November, after a second round of questioning, and a court ordered her held in pre-trial detention. Her husband was released under judicial control, which requires him to sign in periodically at a police station and bars him from leaving the country. Neither has been convicted, and no court has yet ruled on the allegations.

Career in brief

Kaya was born in Istanbul on 31 January 1981, and according to her website she joined the AKP's Istanbul provincial organization in 2009. She entered parliament in the repeat election of November 2015 and became minister of family and social policies on 24 May 2016 in the government of Binali Yıldırım. Her ministry post ended in 2018, when Turkey moved to a presidential government system. She also served as an AKP deputy chair and was described as a long-standing close ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. She resigned from the deputy chair post in September.

Fund crisis and the allegations

A price manipulation scandal involving investment funds broke in mid-September, when suspected manipulation of share prices triggered a stock market crisis. Regulators then ordered the liquidation of 131 funds run by seven asset management companies, after managers warned they could not meet redemption payments. About 455,000 investors are reported to be affected. A representative of the opposition Yeni Parti accused Kaya and her husband of obtaining about 2.17 billion Turkish lira, roughly $43 million, from selling investments after transactions worth about 163 million lira, mainly in shares of the shipbuilder Özata Denizcilik. These figures are the opposition's claims and have not been established by a court.

Probe and government response

Kaya resigned as AKP deputy chair on 26 September, after the accusations surfaced. She and her husband denied wrongdoing at their first questioning in early October, and Kaya told investigators she made her investment decisions herself without confidential information. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said on Tuesday, 3 November, that 112 people had been remanded in custody in the case and that investigators had uncovered what he called a comprehensive criminal organization. More than 430 people are under investigation for market manipulation and insider trading. On Thursday, 5 November, Erdoğan told reporters he would hold to account those who had made unlawful profits and manipulated capital markets.

Political fallout and open questions

The opposition treats the affair as a matter of political responsibility and oversight within the AKP rather than an individual offence. Ekrem İmamoğlu, the jailed former Istanbul mayor and Erdoğan's main rival, says everyone involved in the fund scandal belongs to the government's circle. Authorities have not publicly presented all details of the alleged transactions. Prosecutors suspect Kaya held undisclosed information that could have influenced prices, and investigators are also checking her links to Emre Tezmen, a former director of one of the asset managers involved. Press reports say the couple moved part of their trading profits to an account flagged by banking regulators, while keeping their principal and interest income.