Berat Albayrak

Türkiye's exports increased by 3.2 percent in the January-September period from a year ago to reach $192.8 billion, according to data from the Trade Ministry on Oct. 3.

In the same period, the country's imports fell by 7.9 percent year-on-year to $252.9 billion.

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.

A CHP branch with a poster asking: "Where are 128 billion dollars?" Photo: CHP Silivri Branch

The CHP has been organising a campaign about the fate the Turkish Central Bank reserves on social media and later put up the banners on its buildings and billboards.

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.

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.

Turkey is working on a comprehensive "employment shield" package to support jobs in the face of the coronavirus fallout, said the country's treasury and finance minister on June 5. 

Berat Albayrak told journalists in Istanbul, the country's commercial capital, that the issue of employment will top Turkey's normalization efforts.