President Erdoğan accepts Albayrak's resignation as finance minister

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Minister of Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak has been relieved of duty by President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Presidency's Communications Directorate has announced.

"As a result of the evaluation by our President, Minister of Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak's request to be relieved of his duty has been accepted," the Directorate said in a statement on Twitter.

Albayrak, who is also the son-in-law of the President, announced his resignation on Instagram yesterday (November 8).

The government neither confirmed nor denied Albayrak's resignation for more than 24 hours and Albayrak himself did not make a further statement on the issue.

AKP Spokesperson Ömer Çelik said earlier that it was at the President's discretion to accept the resignation and he didn't have anything to say about it.

Pro-government media outlets did not report Albayrak's statement as well.

CLICK - Silence on Albayrak's resignation 'greatest media crisis in Turkey's recent history'

Albayrak served as the Minister of Energy between November 2015 and July and 2018 and was appointed as the Minister of Treasury and Finance following the June 2018 presidential and parliamentary elections.

He has been under heavy criticism lately over the US dollar's sharp rise against the Turkish lira.

After Albayrak announced that he resigned, even it was not officially confirmed, the lira gained value against the US dollar, with the exchange rate dropping to around to 8.10 today, from around 8.55 at Friday's (November 6) close.

"The plants we have sown in economy, just as we did in energy, will turn into great planes and inshallah, we will witness that they will make our country reach the goal of full independence. I have no doubt about that," he had said in the Instagram post announcing his resignation.

"Thank God for granting me the privilege of serving my country and the ummah [all Muslims around the world] in this five year period, which can be considered one of the most critical periods in Turkey's history," Albayrak had said. (EKN/VK)