ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak resigned from his post on Sunday, citing unspecified health problems.
The resignation came just one day after Erdogan fired Murat Uysal, the governor of Turkey’s central bank, and the further plummet of the Turkish lira.
“After serving in ministerial posts for nearly five years, I took the decision not to continue my duty (as finance minister) due to health issues,” Albayrak said in an Instagram post.
He previously served as energy minister and is married to Erdogan’s eldest daughter Esra.
Albayrak has served as finance minister of Turkey for five years, and said his tenure “will be considered as maybe the lowest period in Turkey’s history.”
It is rumoured that he was being groomed by Erdogan to succeed him, AFP has said.
The finance minister did not see eye-to-eye with Agbal, two people with close links to Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) told the Financial Times.
“Mr. Berat Albayrak took part in a very difficult process….we witness his devoted work…. We hope that the president will approve for him to continue his duty,” AKP Deputy Chairman Mehmet Mus said of the resignation.
The Turkish Lira has recently plummeted in value and hit an all-time low rate over the weekend, standing at 8.52 against the US Dollar.
“We must not forget that the fundamental reason for the problems that the economy is experiencing is bad management and a partisan presidential system that shuns institutional . . . thinking, eschews meritocracy and destroys our established institutions,” Ali Babacan, a former finance minister who now heads his own party, told the Financial Times.
Source : rudaw.net
