site.btaTurkish Presidency Denies Rumours about Finance Minister's Resignation

The Turkish President's Office Wednesday denied rumours that Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek intended the resign. In a post on the social network X, the Centre for Combatting Disinformation with the Communications Directorate of the Turkish Presidency said that "the claim shared on some social media accounts that 'Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek wanted to resign but was dissuaded' do not reflect the truth". 

"Do not believe in disinformation that is deliberately circulated to create anxiety and insecurity in the markets," the post reads.

The post goes with screenshots from online news media and social media where the false allegations were distributed. Among them is a story on Yenicag, which reported earlier, citing the YouTube channel of Turkish journalist Erol Mütercimler, that the Finance Minister handed in his resignation two weeks ago but was talked into staying by Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz.

According to Mütercimler, the Finance Minister's wish to come down was a reaction to the scrapping by the authorities of tax liabilities for a total of TRY 600 billion owed by certain business people. His video was published on August 19.