17.10.2026 08:10
DEVA Party leader Ali Babacan commented on global index provider MSCI's decision to freeze some index changes regarding Turkish stocks. Babacan said, "This is a very important opportunity if it is evaluated correctly. If it is not evaluated correctly, then God forbid, this will go badly."
DEVA Party Chairman Ali Babacan evaluated the decision by MSCI, one of the global index providers, to freeze certain changes in the indices covering Turkish equities until a second announcement.
Answering questions from Gizem Fidan and Hakan Aygün on MK TV, Babacan said regarding the decision, “Whereas MSCI had previously given Turkey a date until November, it has now extended that date to June 2027. In other words, they said that yes, steps are being taken in Turkey, or they are pretending to be taken, but we will monitor this. While monitoring, they also froze some parameters related to that index and issues concerning the conditions for entry into and exit from the index. Because what did they do? [They said,] ‘Let us look at these stocks one by one, see which stock is clean and problem-free, which one has a scam, and then reassess accordingly.’” he said.
To the question of whether the decision was an opportunity, Babacan replied, “Of course, this is a very important opportunity if it is evaluated correctly. If it is not evaluated correctly, then God forbid, this could go badly. It could turn against us. In other words, we need to act very quickly.”
"THERE IS NO NEED FOR A NEW LAW"
The DEVA Party leader said the following in response to a question about whether the government was acting slowly on the fund crisis:
“It has been a month—today it has been exactly one month. If I were the president of this country, those things I say must be done, I would have done them all that night. Remove [them] from office, establish the task force. That’s it. After that, let the colleagues get to work immediately. If a law on repayment is needed, let’s send it to Parliament immediately. Let it proceed transparently. Otherwise, there is no need for a new law to prevent such things from happening again in the capital market. Because our CMB is rock solid. That is, the Capital Markets Law is a rock-solid law.”
"WHOSE HAND IS THIS SCALPEL IN?"
Babacan also evaluated President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s remarks, “We are carrying out the operation with the meticulousness of a surgeon,” and noted that the public could obtain information about the process only through statements by the President, the Vice President, and the relevant ministers. Babacan noted the following:
“But the actual records held by the state are not disclosed in full transparency as they are. What does a surgeon do? First, he tells the patient, ‘I have made the diagnosis.’ He says, ‘The problem is here,’ and ‘I will treat you as follows.’ He explains a road map and, together with his team, carries out that operation transparently. He explains how he will perform the surgery, right? ‘I will do it this way, that way. I will intervene in this organ like this.’ He takes the scalpel in his hand and works carefully. But at the moment, whose hand is this scalpel in? Who is carrying out this operation? If such an operation is to be carried out, who is doing it? Who is responsible? Is it the CMB, where people who have turned a blind eye to all this fraud, or neglected it, or were partners in this business, are still insistently and stubbornly kept working? Or is it the people inside a cumbersome 15–20-person fund board that was set up, most of whom do not understand these matters? Who? Who is the surgeon?”
"WHO IS THE POLITICAL RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS AFFAIR?"
Babacan also touched upon the deliberations in the Planning and Budget Committee on the regulation concerning repayment to the fund victims, and continued his remarks as follows:
“There is no such thing as state governance left. In the Planning and Budget Committee, a legislative regulation passed the committee concerning how repayment will be made to citizens in relation to this fund fraud. There is no minister. Who is the chairman of this fund board? Isn’t it the Vice President? Why don’t you sit in the committee and explain? Who is politically responsible for this matter? The CMB Chairman is not there. He is not in the committee. Look, I have passed at least 100 laws through the Planning and Budget Committee and Parliament. I would sit and defend them vigorously myself, I would explain them. Because I was the political person responsible. Why are we doing this, why is this law being enacted? You remember those days. There is no one responsible in sight. Who is holding the scalpel in their hand? The surgeon is working meticulously. Who is the surgeon? The President will not disclose it. I am asking who the surgeon is. Who is the one holding that scalpel? Do you again say to the doctor who made the patient ill and bedridden, ‘Take the scalpel, you treat this’? Or do you say, ‘Sorry, friend, you are the one who put this patient in bed. You are the cause of this illness. Step aside, let another doctor come and perform this surgery’? Look, they did not do this. He needs to be removed from office.”