Gov’t media maintain attack on Bank Asya

Bank Asya headquarters is pictured in İstanbul on Feb. 4. (Photo: Reuters)
Bank Asya headquarters is pictured in İstanbul on Feb. 4. (Photo: Reuters)


Date posted: July 21, 2015

In yet another allegation targeted at Turkey’s largest Islamic lender, Turkey’s pro-government media continued a smear campaign against Bank Asya, the lender’s shareholders said on Sunday, reiterating that the bank operated fully in line with laws.

Turkish daily Yeni Akit, with close links to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, reported on Sunday that Bank Asya extended loans to certain Turkish-owned companies abroad and failed to collect these loan debts.

The same daily also alleged that Asya was made to post losses due to these non-performing loans. A group of Asya shareholders denied allegations on Sunday, referring to the claims as “slander.”

“All of Bank Asya loan traffic inside and outside of Turkey is monitored by the Finance Ministry’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board [MASAK]. … There is not a single incident where Bank Asya sustained losses due to a loan extended and all of these loans have been paid back to the bank,” the shareholders said in Sunday’s written statement.

After a three-month period of interim management, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) announced in late May that it had handed over control of Bank Asya to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) in what many political commentators consider a politically motivated move.

Bank Asya was founded by sympathizers of the faith-based Gülen movement, also known as the Hizmet movement — a civil society initiative inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

Gülen has been accused of being the leader of a hidden structure within the government which, according to many in the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), attempted to launch a coup against the government when sweeping bribery investigations implicated several Cabinet ministers in 2013. The movement has strongly denied the accusations.

Global rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has last week confirmed that the seizure of Islamic lender Bank Asya is an example of the severity of political risks in Turkey, which could affect the country’s whole financial system.

Source: Today's Zaman , July 19, 2015

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Award-winning US screenwriter: Without freedom of speech and media, we’re all slaves

Terry Spencer Hesser, director of the first feature-length movie about Fethullah Gülen and the Hizmet movement, a grassroots initiative inspired by the Islamic scholar, spoke to Sunday’s Zaman at the Strasbourg screening of the biopic titled “Love Is a Verb,”

22 businessmen sue PM Erdoğan over Hashishin remarks against Hizmet

Dr. Mahir Şahin, one of the plaintiffs, made a statement in front of the courthouse and argued that the people who follow the Hizmet movement, known as the “Cemaat” (community), are openly being targeted by publicly associating them with the corruption probe that broke out on Dec. 17.

Erdoğan is helping Hizmet community in three ways

If President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had given an assurance to the world, saying, “The Hizmet movement never resorts to violence and it is an antidote to Islamist violence,” people would still have nurtured doubts and they still would have asked if they, like Islamists, would resort to violence under duress.

Philip Clayton on Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet Movement

Dr. Philip Clayton is the Ingraham Professor of Theology at Claremont School of Theology. He received dual PhDs from Yale in philosophy and theology and held posts at Williams College and the California State University, as well as guest professorships at the University of Munich, the University of Cambridge, and Harvard University. He is a leading advocate for interreligious dialogue, comparative theologies, and the internationalization of the science-religion dialogue. He authored or edited 22 books.

Appeals court unanimously upholds Fethullah Gülen acquittal

METIN ARSLAN The Supreme Court of Appeals has upheld the acquittal of Fethullah Gülen, first issued by the Ankara 11th High Criminal Court. The 9th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals reached the decision unanimously, stating that there was no inconsistency in the ruling of the 11th High Criminal Court, adding that it […]

Istanbul police display hundreds of books among evidence of ‘terror’

Police seized Gülen’s 1,500 books; 24 CDs featuring Gülen’s speeches; TL 435,200 ($148,000) along with $99,200 and 700 euros; several laptops; two guns and some digital data, during operations targeting the alleged terrorist network of the movement.

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

Kimse Yok Mu’s volunteer doctors on their way for Africa

Islamic scholars to discuss ‘Ijma’ at Istanbul symposium

Kimse Yok Mu to build 4 schools in Sudan

The role of civil society in Turkey’s democratization

Kimse Yok Mu, Philippines sign agreement to further aid cooperation

Ali Bulac: Gulen movement wants to participate in the globalization

Police rescue 8 students, staff of Nigeria-Turkish International School from kidnappers

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News