Gov’t attack on Bank Asya taints Turkey’s image

Bank Asya
Bank Asya


Date posted: October 15, 2014

FERHAN KÖSEOĞLU / PARIS

Attempts by the Turkish government to sink Bank Asya have tainted Turkey’s image, according to French-based Institute for Research on the International Economy expert Deniz Ünal, speaking to the Cihan news agency on Tuesday.

Since the Dec. 17 corruption investigation Bank Asya has been subjected to a series of government-led attacks because of the lender’s affiliation with the Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen-inspired Hizmet movement.

“This is the other Turkey that scares me. Behind this there are attacks upon the legal system, which seem to be getting worse. This will negatively impact the economy,” said Ünal. “There was no indication that Bank Asya was heading in a bad direction. All of a sudden Bank Asya was discussed in a very negative light and this created a problem. It is clear that they are trying to close the bank for ideological purposes,” he said.

Ünal emphasized that the attempt on behalf of the government to sink Bank Asya could strongly dissuade foreign investors from investing in Turkey. “From outside it looks very bad, and from within [Turkey] it surely doesn’t look so good either,” he said.

Meanwhile, in a statement on Tuesday, Bank Asya announced that numerous media organs are publishing false reports on the bank’s financial situation to intentionally distort the Bank’s image, and that such reports do not reflect the reality.

Source: Today's Zaman , October 14, 2014


Related News

Victims of Erdogan’s witch-hunt and purge get their voice heard

A new website has recently been launched to publish stories or Turkish president Erdogan’s with-hunt, persecution and brutal crack-down on the dissents. The new website is named “Magduriyetler,” which aims to disseminate the stories of the countless violations of law after the coup attempt in July 2016.

Individuals can force change

Instead of Erdoğan’s accusations that the Hizmet movement had plotted to unseat his government, couldn’t it have been a handful of good men and women within the bureaucracy, i.e., the judiciary and the police, who leaked the investigation documents on Dec. 17 to the public to prevent these crimes from being covered up?

‘Well, you were saying Hizmet is a religious movement?’

The Hizmet movement is considered a civil society organization, an indispensable element in democratic societies. In democracies, elections truly matter. The will of voters is indisputably important. However, there is also another power, called public opinion. They influence the parties and administrations.

‘We won’t stop the witch-hunt’ AKP parliamentary group deputy chair says

Speaking to reporters in Parliament on Saturday, AKP deputy Bulent Turan was responding to criticism from opposition parties accusing the AKP government of enforcing decrees during the ongoing state of emergency merely to silence dissident voices. “We won’t stop hunting [dissidents] merely because of criticism that there is witch-hunt [against dissidents],” Turan said.

Istanbul court re-arrests former Zaman reporter minutes before leaving prison

Ayşenur Parıldak, a former reporter from the now-closed Zaman daily, was released early on Tuesday but was re-arrested by the same court hours before leaving prison upon a prosecutor objected to the initial ruling.

By Extraditing Anti-Erdogan Leader, Trump Would Betray American Values

Extraditing dissident Islamist cleric Fethullah Gulen to Turkey would be a betrayal of American values and should be permanently off the table. President Trump says that handing over Gulen to Turkey is not under consideration “at this point.” But that’s not good enough.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Mr. Gulen is trying to interpret the broad humanistic principles of the Qur’an for the modern world

Fethullah Gulen: From Izmir to the Global Hizmet Movement

EC official: Turkey should address issues within limits of rule of law

What are The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune after?

Zaman Arabic aims to be online paper of reference

Islamic scholar Gülen warns Hizmet movement against possible plots

Turkish Scholar Fethullah Gulen Speaks about PKK

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News