AK Party Deputy Chair Sayan Kaya resigns over allegation that she and her husband turned 163.46 million TL into 2.17 billion TL

According to a Turkish Minute report dated 26 September, YENİ Party MP Zeynel Emre alleged that Kaya sold Özata Denizcilik shares she had bought for 63.4 million TL in April for 1.34 billion TL (about 27 million dollars) in September, and that her husband invested 99.7 million TL and withdrew 826 million TL (about 17 million dollars). As reported by Diken, the allegation covers a purchase of 250,000 shares at 255 TL per share on 8 April and a sale at 4,482 TL in September. According to Emre, the sales were made before 16 September, when the fund crisis spilled over into the stock exchange. According to Turkish Minute, the Capital Markets Board (SPK) filed criminal complaints against 11 people over market-disruptive actions in Özata trading; Kaya and her husband are not on that list.

According to a Sondakika.com report published at 23:30 on 26 September, Kaya announced that she had asked the party chairman to relieve her of all her duties and stressed political and moral rather than legal responsibility; she did not respond to the figures in the allegations. Diken writes that the resignation was announced on X on 27 September, while Cumhuriyet reports that the resignation was accepted; the time of the resignation could not be verified. The name of the person making the allegation is spelled differently in Diken, while Turkish Minute and Cumhuriyet give the name Zeynel Emre.

The allegation marked the first time the crisis, which has grown with the 131 funds and roughly 18 billion dollars in assets that SPK placed into liquidation on 17 September, has touched the leadership tier of the ruling party. On the same day, the Justice Minister announced that the assets of 46 legal entities, 18 funds and 42 individuals had been frozen; whether Kaya and her husband are on this list was not disclosed and could not be verified.