Minister of Commerce Ömer Bolat made a statement regarding the allegations against him on his NSosyal account.
Emphasizing that all asset declarations have been made completely and within legal periods since he took office as Minister, and that this information is subject to control, Bolat said, "Since the date I took office as the Minister of Commerce, all of our declarations regarding the assets of myself and my first-degree family relatives have been and continue to be regularly submitted to the competent state institutions within the procedures and periods stipulated by the relevant legislation. We have never felt the need to hide any of our assets, sources of income or savings to date. Our asset declaration is already in the hands of the state." he said.
Bolat pointed out that there are over 1200 investment funds and many different capital and money market investment instruments in Türkiye and continued as follows:
"The attempt to bring my name to the agenda through the investigations and investigations carried out by the competent authorities regarding 7 investment companies on September 16 is a completely black propaganda, a new version of social and political lynch hunting. From the savings I had accumulated throughout my 43 years of private sector, academic life and business world experience before my ministry duty, and since I took a break from my professional activities after the start of my duty as the Ministry of Commerce, our family savings amounting to 37.8 million Turkish liras will be lost on 26 February 2024. "It was deposited into a legal money market financial instrument in the form of a sukuk (lease certificate) account within Hedef Yatırım Portföy. This data is also recorded in my property declaration. 2 years and 8 months have passed since this investment. The amount in question remained in the same investment instrument for 2 years and 8 months. Contrary to the slander of the relevant person, the sukuk account has not been closed until this date and remains in the relevant account after the investigations opened by our state on September 16."
Stating that no stock trading or other investment operations were carried out on the savings in question on or before or after September 16, when the fund investigation started, Bolat said, "Therefore, the claim and accusation attempted to be made this evening is a slander. The family savings, which are tried to be publicly labeled as 'money in the fund', is actually a registered and legal financial investment instrument in the nature of a lease certificate, referred to as sukuk. It is not a stock traded on the stock exchange. "The savings account was definitely not closed before or after September 16. The statement that he put in 400 and got 800 is a big lie." made his evaluations.
"No stock purchases or sales were made through the sukuk account in question."
Bolat also shared the last one, three and six months return information and stated that lease certificates, like government bonds, gold funds, foreign exchange funds, are money market instruments issued within the framework of legal and legitimate legislation and open to investors' access.
Moreover, Bolat stated that the income of the sukuk-lease certificate is not risk-free and guaranteed, and pointed out that if the issuer does not fulfill its sukuk repayment obligations, it is possible for the investor to lose value, including his principal.
Explaining that no stock purchases or sales were made through the sukuk account in question, Bolat said, "No stock market operations have been carried out through the account in which the savings in question is held for approximately 2 years and 8 months. More importantly, Ömer Bolat has not had any managerial, partnership or signature authority in any investment or financial institution to date. Therefore, it is a complete lie to associate my person with the managerial or commercial activities of the said institutions. Neither my person nor my family has ever invested in crypto assets or foreign currency." "There is no tax or insurance premium debt to our government. Neither I nor my family have any crypto assets or foreign financial investment transactions. All our income, expenses, payments, savings and financial movements are subject to registration and control systems of the relevant institutions of our state." he said.
"We are open to all kinds of inspections and inspections by the authorized institutions of our state."
Bolat pointed out that they are open to all kinds of examination and control by the authorized institutions of the state, as they have been until today, and continued as follows:
"In the light of all these facts, trying to present a family savings, which has had the same sukuk-lease certificate in a legal investment instrument for 2 years and 8 months and has not yet been closed, in the same framework as the recent fund investigations, is not an attempt to reveal the truth, but an attempt to throw mud at me and damage my reputation, it is a black propaganda lie. The biggest basis of our 63 years of life and our 43 years of business life, family and social life, our transparency to date, has always been truth, honesty, fairness, "It has been our motto to comply with the norms of legitimacy, conscience and morality, to work selflessly in the service of our people and our country. Everyone who knows us is a witness to this. Unfortunately, such unfounded and unjust attacks happen when we are in politics and in action. But with God's permission, such black propaganda slander will never stick to us."
Stating that his legal rights are reserved, Bolat said:
"I clearly declare that I will use all my legal rights to the fullest against these unfounded false information and slanders of the honor executioners, which are intended to mislead the public, damage my personal reputation and shake the trust in the office I hold, and make my 8-year-old grandchildren cry, and against the people and institutions that spread these slanders."
