Turkey’s investment-fund crisis widened on Friday as authorities announced arrests and asset freezes, regulators prepared to liquidate 131 funds, and scrutiny extended to prominent figures connected to the financial groups involved.
According to T24, Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said four suspects, including fund board executives, had been remanded in custody. Authorities imposed foreign-travel bans on 51 people and froze relevant accounts and assets to prevent suspected proceeds being moved.
The crackdown also reached online commentary. Gürlek said access to 246 social-media accounts had been blocked over allegedly panic-inducing posts. In a separate investigation, 16 suspects were remanded over posts allegedly intended to manipulate capital markets. These proceedings remain allegations, not convictions.
The financial response is substantial. The Capital Markets Board assigned İş Bankası to oversee liquidation of Tera Portföy funds and Ziraat Bankası to handle funds belonging to six other managers. As T24 reported, assets will be sold with market liquidity taken into account, and proceeds distributed to investors. The timetable is approximately three months, subject to extension.
The Financial Times reported that roughly $17 billion in investments were implicated. That figure represents money exposed to the affected funds, rather than an established loss. The turmoil followed Pusula Portföy’s inability to meet withdrawals, exposing risks associated with concentrated positions in related companies and inflated valuations.
Political connections have added another dimension. T24’s examination of company structures identified university rector Emre Alkin and former OECD ambassador Kerem Alkin in Tera companies, and Neslihan Mumcu, wife of former deputy minister Batuhan Mumcu, among Bulls Holding shareholders. Those affiliations do not establish wrongdoing. T24 separately reported that Pusula Portföy chairman Muhammed Yarız was remanded in custody.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that the central bank expanded repo funding to 300 billion lira and regulators eased margin requirements to contain forced selling after a sharp stock-market decline.
Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek insisted the disruption was contained. Speaking to NTV, in remarks carried by T24, he said the affected funds represented around 10 percent of sector assets and rejected suggestions of systemic instability.
Şimşek also confirmed that Emlak Katılım had initiated a process to acquire savings-finance businesses Katılımevim and Birevim. He distinguished protection for their customers from the fund liquidation process. For fund investors, the announced mechanism remains repayment from realised assets, leaving ultimate recoveries dependent on what those holdings fetch.