A former senior economist at the US online retailer Amazon was appointed as the new head of Turkey’s central bank on Friday by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Following her resignation from office after less than a year due to a family-related media scandal, Fatih Karahan was appointed.
After years of financial instability, Erdogan’s newfound dedication to market economics seems to be maintained by the reshuffle.
Western investors praised Erkan greatly for initiating a swift succession of interest rate increases that stabilized the falling lira and controlled Turkey’s excruciating cost of living problem.
But the 44-year-old came under withering attack on social media and in some opposition publications for allegedly allowing her father to make unauthorised personnel decisions at the bank.
Erkan reportedly also angered Erdogan by telling one major newspaper that she had to move in with her parents because inflation had made renting unaffordable.
The attacks on Turkey’s first woman central bank governor alarmed investors and created uncertainty about Erdogan’s long-term commitment to his team.
“A major reputation assassination campaign has recently been organised against me,” Erkan said in a social media statement announcing her resignation.
In 2012, Karahan began working for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as an economist.
According to his official biography, he also gave lectures at New York University and Columbia University.
He started working for Amazon in 2022, and in July of last year, the central bank selected him as Erkan’s deputy.
