Berat Albayrak

Turkish government officials are careful in their public statements regarding the results of the U.S. presidential elections to avoid leaving room for misinterpretations from Washington and to prevent possible shadows on their relations with the new president, whoever that may be.

Sliding in opinion polls amid a severe economic crisis and a surge in coronavirus infections, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey is looking unusually embattled these days. And now his administration has been hit by a roiling corruption scandal that some say has a fin de siècle aura about it.

The Central Bank's foreign exchange reserves incurred no losses as claimed by the main opposition party, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on March 10 while defending the policies of the former treasury and finance minister and his son-in-law, Berat Albayrak, and pointing out that Turkey has realized many achievements during his tenure.

The main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) campaign regarding former Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak aims to target the president and his family, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Feb. 22 stressing that the transactions of the central bank in his term were in line with the law.

Former Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak has resigned from the board of directors of the Turkey Wealth Fund, according to an official statement.

Albayrak, who is also the son-in-law of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, earlier this month resigned as finance minister citing health issues.

The government has launched a series of meetings with the representatives of the business world to hear their suggestions and inform them on planned economic and judicial reforms.

İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener has called on the government to take necessary steps against the interception of the Turkish merchant ship by an EU mission in the eastern Mediterranean.

The eyes of the whole world are focused there because of the new, dangerous tensions between Athens and Ankara, RTS writes, referring to the Greek media.
Athens is demanding the deployment of American forces.

The Turkish economy has a strong structure to weather the effects of the fluctuations in the exchange rate level, Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak has said.

"The exchange rate goes down, it goes up. What is important is that Turkey manages all this volatility in a controlled way," Albayrak said in an interview with private broadcaster CNN Türk on Aug. 12.

Turkey is affected by global capital movements as much as other countries, the finance minister said on Aug. 12, referring to the Turkish lira losing ground. 

"Turkey is affected much less than before from exchange rate volatilities," Berat Albayrak told CNN Turk.

Albayrak stressed Turkey is managing fluctuations in a controlled manner.