In the short span of 48 hours Central Bank governor Gaye Erkan and her family became magazine stars. The meteoric rise of the Erkan & Family began with a series of allegations initiated by the complaint of Büşra Bozkurt, a Central Bank employee, made to the Presidential Communication Center (CİMER). Bozkurt claimed that Erol Erkan, Hafize Gaye Erkan’s father, dismissed her, and that he was mobbing the employees, the daily Sözcü reported on Jan. 18.
On Saturday, Gaye Erkan’s father told his side of the story, claiming that another employee has informed the family that a conspiracy was afoot to discredit her by anonymous sources. His statements to the popular business magazine website Patronlar Dünyası (the World of Bosses) are as follows
With the establishment of the new economic team led by Vice President Mr. Cevdet Yılmaz and Minister of Finance Mr. Mehmet Şimşek and our daughter Gaye Erkan joining this strong team, CDS rates dropped significantly. Confidence in the economic environment in Turkey has been renewed. We are experiencing a period of success. The successful atmosphere in the negotiations in the USA was also an indication of this.
Gaye Erkan with her father
But unfortunately, someone pressed the button. They systematically put fake news into action… This process started on January 5 and before.
This is how we were informed of the plot to discredit her: A female employee named Kübra, who works at the Central Bank and is said to have beaten by me today, wants to meet with the President Gaye Erkan repeatedly. However, the President cannot meet her because she is in the USA. Then, she wants to meet with us as his mother and father.
What she told us was horrifying. Supposedly I slapped Ms. Kübra. Supposedly, rumors would be created in the bank and leaks would be made by saying that I had slapped a female employee.
We were give a series of WhatsApp messages (these messages were confirmed by famous and dissident journalist Mr. Ugur Dundar), aimed to slander us by using the name of the employee named Kübra, and to destroy the reputation of the president by wearing us down.
We sent him a thank you message in the evening. What she did was truly an example of good Samaritanship. As stated in the messages, Ms Kübra does not want to be a tool for slander. She says, “I am concerned about slander and defend people’s rights, no matter who they are. I believe that sooner or later, everything will be revealed.”
As of late Saturday night, neither the presidency nor the office of the Ministry of Finance and Treasury, headed by Mehmet Simsek made announcement defending Gaye Erkan. In a very strange public announcement Mehmet Simsek’s office stated that the Minister was not the source of the leaks involving her and that there were no tension between the two. The announcement weas in response to another rumor circulated by dissident and maverick OdaTv.com that Simsek leaked the damaging revelations about Erkan.
Only in Turkey!