Istanbul prosecutors seek arrest of ex-Borsa İstanbul chief as fund probe reaches market institutions

Prosecutors in Istanbul asked a court on Monday, November 2, to jail Korkmaz Enes Ergun, the head of Borsa İstanbul until his detention on Saturday, on a charge of accepting bribes. The request is the furthest a two-month investigation into collapsed investment funds has reached into the institutions that run Turkey's capital markets. A day earlier, the head of Takasbank, the market's clearing bank, was questioned as a suspect and released under judicial controls. Reports that he then resigned have not been confirmed by the bank.

The cases come as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan named a new chair of the Capital Markets Board (SPK), the market regulator, and as the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) pressed for what it called a "wholesale cleanup." The probe has already led to 120 arrests, according to a count by NTV. It touches savings held by more than 455,000 investors.

This report sets out what happened between Saturday, October 31, and Monday, November 2, what earlier steps led here, and how the parties have responded. An arrest request is not a charge sheet or a conviction. None of the people named in this report has been convicted in this case.

The Borsa İstanbul chief and the arrest request

Ergun was detained on October 31 on suspicion of "membership in an organization formed to commit crimes" and "bribery," the Demirören News Agency (DHA) reported. The investigation is run by the Terrorism Financing and Laundering Crimes Investigation Bureau of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

After police finished their questioning, he was brought to the Istanbul courthouse on Monday. Once prosecutors had taken his statement, they sent him to a criminal judgeship of peace with a request that he be held on the charge of "accepting bribes," DHA reported. Bloomberg HT reported the same request. Under Turkish procedure, that judge decides whether a suspect is jailed pending trial, released under conditions, or freed. 567politics had not found a ruling as of Monday night, Eastern Time. Ergun's statement to prosecutors has not been made public, and 567politics did not find a public response from him or a lawyer.

Ergun had run Borsa İstanbul since March 26, 2021, according to NTV. He was also vice chair of Takasbank's board and a board member of the World Federation of Exchanges. Deputy general manager Atila Türeli has been running the exchange on an acting basis since the detention, NTV reported. Ergun joined the exchange in 1997 after graduating from Ankara University, BBC Türkçe reported.

Also on November 1, Umut Güner, a partner in the Dünya newspaper, was detained in the same investigation, BBC Türkçe reported. Turkish media have reported that Dünya Holding holds shares in Bulls Yatırım Holding. That link has not been confirmed in court.

Takasbank's general manager

Yunus Arıncı, general manager of Takasbank since 2024, gave a statement to prosecutors as a suspect on November 1. A judge then ordered judicial controls, including a ban on foreign travel and a duty to report and sign in regularly, Bloomberg HT reported, citing Anadolu Agency.

Reports that he then quit are less firm. Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Arıncı resigned after the questioning, according to Sözcü. A Takasbank spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied the report, Sözcü said, and Arıncı did not comment. Evrensel reported, citing journalist İsmail Saymaz, that the resignation had been accepted. Nefes reported that his name had been removed from the website of the Central Securities Depository (MKK), where he was vice chair.

Takasbank's role has been a focus for lawmakers. Some reports allege that the bank's liquidity was used to finance certain investors' exits from the funds, Evrensel noted. That is an allegation, not a finding. Testifying to parliament's Planning and Budget Committee on October 14, Arıncı insisted that Takasbank had not financed Tera, one of the groups at the center of the case. He said Tera's last collateral at the bank was 21 billion lira against a risk of 9 billion lira, Nefes reported. Asked how long Tera had been funded, he said, "Let's not say until the last day. Until the first week of September."

A new regulator chair

On October 31, Erdoğan appointed Muhsin Atcı, head of the Tax Inspection Board, as chair of the SPK. Ersin Başar Ekmekci was named vice chair and Yasemin Girici a member. The decision, numbered 2026/367, appeared in the Official Gazette of November 1. Some outlets spelled the new chair's surname differently. This report uses the spelling in the Gazette.

The SPK has been at the center of the response. On September 17 it ordered the liquidation of 131 investment funds founded by seven portfolio management firms, including Bulls Portföy, BBC Türkçe reported. By October 17, liquidation had been completed for 66 funds run by A1, Bulls and Pardus, paying about 40.8 billion lira to more than 45,000 people through Ziraat Bank, NTV reported. That left 65 funds in liquidation, including those of Tera, Pusula and Atlas.

How the case has grown

NTV's timeline traces the crisis to late August. Prices of funds linked to some firms had risen more than 3,000 percent in eight months, through cross trades in thinly traded shares. The SPK then moved to limit how heavily hedge-style funds could concentrate in single stocks. On September 15, Pusula Portföy said it had defaulted on redemptions as investors rushed to sell.

Since then, the number of people held in pretrial detention has kept rising. The chart below uses the counts NTV gave for each date.

0

50

100

150

Oct 24114

Oct 26118

Oct 27120

Nov 2120

Oct 24Oct 26Oct 27Nov 2

Source: NTV

Show the numbers

Date	People held
Oct 24	114
Oct 26	118
Oct 27	120
Nov 2	120

Among those arrested, NTV listed Tera executive Hakan Gövdere and Ral Yatırım Holding chair Rıza Kandemir. Others include a former SPK department head, Erman Çete, and former lawmaker Ertan Aydın. In late September a court ordered the seizure of two private jets and a yacht said to be worth about 1.8 billion lira.

Money has also flowed back. Close to 19 billion lira in unjust gains had been returned as of November 2, NTV reported. On October 6, Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said 214 people and companies had been identified as making suspicious exits from the funds between September 13 and 16, with unjust gains of 187.6 billion lira, according to NTV. Those figures are the minister's. They have not been tested in court.

Parliament passed a law on October 22 allowing interim payments of up to 1 million lira to investors in the funds being wound up, NTV reported. Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz chairs a Fund Coordination Board set up on September 29 to manage the response.

The political fallout so far

The case has already reached the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP). On September 26, Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya, a former family minister and an AKP deputy chair, resigned from her party post, NTV reported. Prosecutors sought freezes on assets held by her and her husband. They were alleged to have made 2.17 billion lira by selling shares just before the crash. The couple told prosecutors they had received no inside information or direction, and denied the allegations. They then returned about 1.86 billion lira under a voluntary repayment scheme, NTV reported.

Trade Minister Ömer Bolat has rejected claims about him. He said a 170 million lira figure cited by critics reflected repeated entries for maturing sukuk certificates over about 32 months, not withdrawals, according to NTV. Family Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş filed criminal complaints against three opposition figures over claims about the probe. Two journalists, Mustafa Balcı and Şaban Sevinç, were jailed in October over reporting on the crisis, and two others were placed under house arrest, NTV reported.

What the leaders say

Erdoğan has framed the probe as proof that the system works. "Those who violate the nation's rights, those who make unjust gains, those who commit fraud will answer for it," he told AKP lawmakers on October 7, according to NTV. He said the first goal was to repay savers "without putting a burden on the public." He added that he would not act "on the direction of pen-pushers or social media hit men," and said markets would be cleansed of "greedy parasites."

MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, Erdoğan's ally, has urged critics to wait. On October 10 he said that accusing everyone before the legal process ends "is a wrong path," Sözcü reported. "Exposing our ministers to such an accusation before results are in" is "a betrayal of politics," he said. "If there is a crime, what is necessary must be done." Erdoğan and Bahçeli both spoke of an "organized" structure behind the gains in their October 21 group speeches, BBC Türkçe reported.

On Monday, CHP group chair Faik Öztrak told reporters in parliament that the scandal reached beyond officials. "The only way out of this crisis is a wholesale cleanup," he said, according to a report on Haberler.com. He said it was right to pursue the case as organized crime, but "limiting the investigation to a few names in the bureaucracy, covering up the political leg of this organized crime, can never be accepted." He argued that "those who appointed these bureaucrats" were "partners" in what he called a robbery. That is his charge. No court has made such a finding.

Öztrak also questioned the new SPK appointment, saying the new chair had served on Takasbank's management with the two executives now under investigation. 567politics could not confirm that claim from the Official Gazette, which lists Atcı only as head of the Tax Inspection Board. Öztrak said 250,000 lira had been paid into investors' accounts on Friday and that no official had explained the payment schedule.

Reading the arguments

The governing parties stress that courts and regulators are acting and that repayment comes first. The CHP argues that the response protects politicians by focusing on bureaucrats. Both claims can be checked only as the case unfolds. Erdoğan's point that courts are acting is supported by the arrest count. Whether political figures will face charges is unknown.

Bahçeli's appeal to wait for courts and Öztrak's call for accountability in parliament rest on different views of who should judge first. Those are value judgments, not factual disputes. Our editorial standards explain why this report separates allegations from findings.

For economic context, our comparison of Türkiye and the United States and of Germany and Türkiye give basic data on output and purchasing power.

Decisions still pending

The first question is the judge's decision on Ergun. The second is whether Takasbank confirms Arıncı's departure and names a successor. The third is how quickly the remaining 65 funds are wound up and how much more money is returned.

The probe also unfolds alongside another test for Ankara. DEM Party lawmakers said over the weekend that PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan had moved to a new building on İmralı. See our report on Öcalan's move and the stalled peace process.

Differing perspectives

How should Türkiye pursue accountability for the collapse of investment funds that hit more than 455,000 investors?

Each position is summarized as its supporters make it, with equal weight and in alphabetical order. A summary is not an endorsement; the evidence for each is weighed in the story above.

• Hold the political side to account in parliament

  Who holds it: Republican People's Party (CHP) group chair Faik Öztrak

  Pursuing the case as organized crime is right, but limiting it to a few bureaucrats would shield its political side. The officials did not appoint themselves, so those who appointed and vouched for them share responsibility. Naming a new regulator chair who served alongside the suspects undermines trust. Those responsible must answer to both government and opposition lawmakers in parliament, and only a wholesale cleanup can end the crisis.

  In their words: Haberler.com, quoting Faik Öztrak ↗

• Let courts act and repay savers first

  Who holds it: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP)

  The judiciary is handling the legal side within the constitution and the law, in coordination with other institutions. Those who violated the nation's rights, made unjust gains or committed fraud will answer for it. The first goal is to repay citizens' savings quickly without putting a burden on the public. Policy should follow the nation's direction, not gossip or social media campaigns, and the markets will emerge cleansed and stronger.

  In their words: NTV, quoting Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ↗

• Wait for legal results before naming people

  Who holds it: Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli

  Many voices are offering interpretations and accusing everyone before the matter has been legally investigated and concluded. That is the wrong path, and critics should be patient. Exposing ministers to accusations before results are in, or guessing at names, is disrespectful and unfair to people who serve the country. If there is a crime, what is necessary must be done, but the country should not be locked onto one issue.

  In their words: Sözcü, quoting Devlet Bahçeli ↗