Bank Asya mandates Goldman for strategic partnership


Date posted: June 11, 2014

ISTANBUL

Bank Asya said on Wednesday it has mandated Goldman Sachs as its financial advisor for a strategic partnership, without providing further details.

The Islamic lender made the announcement in a filing with the İstanbul stock exchange. Bank Asya shares traded on the Borsa İstanbul (BIST) were down 3.5 percent on Wednesday.

In March, the Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) said it had entered into exclusive talks to buy a stake in Bank Asya without giving further details except to say it hoped to conclude the deal within the next few months.

Bank Asya also said last week it mandated its management to possibly sell its subsidiaries.

The bank was earlier targeted by government officials who claim alleged irregularities in the bank. The government has however failed to prove these allegations.

In January, Interior Minister Efkan Ala claimed on a state-run Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) TV program, without naming names, that he had “solid evidence” that a bank had bought up dollars from the market a few days before police raids on a Dec. 17 corruption and bribery investigation, and made a profit of over $2 billion when the price of the dollar hiked after the inquest.

Ala’s remarks were widely interpreted as a reference to Bank Asya, affiliated with the Hizmet movement, which is inspired by respected Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government has tried to make the Hizmet movement the scapegoat via conspiracy theories to evade attention stemming from the corruption allegations.

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Sinan Aygün had earlier submitted a question addressed to Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan in Parliament, asking if Ala’s statements were true.

Responding to claims on Tuesday in a written statement, Babacan said: “$750 million was sold by the central bank during the period of Dec. 7-17, 2013 in transactions with 23 market participant banks, and $4 billion was sold from Dec. 17-31, 2013 in transactions with 24 market participant banks. The central bank conducts foreign currency transactions only with market participant banks, not with private persons, firms or companies.”

Babacan did not give any details of the transactions and banks in the mentioned period as they are deemed confidential according to the Banking Law.

Source: Cihan , June 11, 2014


Related News

A Voice from Africa: Is This Erdogan’s Play For Autocratic Power In Turkey?

Erdogan has unlimited power for the next three months during the state of emergency and he is already thinking of instituting the death penalty (remember the Austro-Hungarian German dictator called Hitler). Here’s to hoping he self-implodes in the next three months, because it is doubtful he will relinquish his hold on power at the end.

Child victims to be affected by smear campaign against KYM

The smear campaign conducted by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government against Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) — a charity run by the Hizmet movement inspired by prominent Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen — will affect the children, including victims of sexual assault, staying in the Women’s Shelter of Tacloban City in the Philippines.

Is Hizmet being subjected to genocide? (2)

In a recently leaked voice recording, which was not denied by those involved in it, Erdoğan’s son, Bilal, tells his father that an operation should be launched against the Hizmet movement. All these incidents indicate that the ruling party has used and will use laws in accordance with Erdoğan’s plans. Thus, a group cannot be destroyed solely with mass killings. It can be destroyed also with unfair and unlawful practices by passing specific laws, as we saw in many cases in the past.

Hakan Şükür’s resignation

The resignation of İstanbul deputy Hakan Şükür from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is not an ordinary resignation. It is the most serious incident that disrupts the prestige of the AK Party in the eyes of pious voters.
Şükür’s statement about his resignation must be carefully studied. This statement explains the Hizmet movement’s perspective regarding the recent row between the government and the Hizmet community for the first time and with a clear wording.

Ahmet Şık’s book and Ergenekon’s media campaign (3)

Emre Uslu, Sunday January 1, 2012 In a previous article I examined the media campaign against the Ergenekon trials and discussed Ahmet Şık. As I mentioned, the impact of Şık’s arrest was exaggerated because he was allegedly writing a book criticizing the Gülen movement’s influence in the police force, and his arrest was to prevent […]

Conspiracy theory par excellence [against Gülen movement]

That broad spectrum of people appears to be convinced that Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who has advanced an interpretation of Islam in line with liberal modernity, and the faith-based social movement he has inspired, is to be blamed for all wrongdoing and crime that is going on in Turkey.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Lawyer: Claims about Gülen followers among ‘jihadist group’ baseless defamation

Turkish NGO in Cambodia Denies Links to Terror

Fethullah Gülen on Acts of Terrorism – in light of Paris and Beirut

UN and Turkish charity provide 17,000 Syrian refugees with financial aid

Turkish schools are selected best high schools in Mongolia

Turkish schools in Azerbaijan join SOCAR-financed int’l education complex

Saudi Scholar: Turkish gov’t must give up ‘terrorist’ slander against Gülen

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News