Istanbul (AFP) - A former Turkish minister who holds a prominent position in the ruling party has been imprisoned pending investigation as part of an investment fund scandal worth billions of dollars, the official Anatolia Agency reported on Friday.
Published on: 06/11/2026 - 08:49
The agency reported that a court in Istanbul ordered the imprisonment of Fatima Betul Sayan Kaya on charges related to “violating the financial markets law and belonging to an organization established with the aim of committing crimes.”
Kaya served as Minister of the Family between 2016 and 2018, and until recently was Vice President of the ruling Justice and Development Party led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
She resigned from her position on September 26, following allegations raised by the main opposition Yeni party that she had made huge profits from an investment scandal that made headlines earlier that month.
One of the Yeni Party representatives demanded clarifications about allegations indicating that she and her husband made millions of dollars through transactions related to stocks that they were said to have disposed of before the scandal was exposed, which raised questions about the possibility of dealings based on the exploitation of insider information.
Later, Kaya resigned from the ruling party.
Turkey is facing the repercussions of an investment fund scandal that unfolded in mid-September, as allegations of widespread market manipulation are being investigated, affecting the savings of nearly half a million investors.
Justice Minister Akin Gorlik said on Tuesday that 112 people had been placed in pretrial detention pending investigation in this case, noting that investigators had uncovered an “integrated criminal network” that had penetrated the highest levels of financial markets in Turkey.
© 2026 AFP
The content you want to browse is no longer in service or is currently unavailable.
