Central Bank Governor Murat Çetinkaya Discharged from Office

* Photograph: Anadolu Agency / Archive

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Governor of the Central Bank Murat Çetinkaya has been discharged from office by a Presidential decree. Murat Uysal, the Vice Governor of the Central Bank since June 9, 2016, has been appointed in his place.

The Presidential Decree was published on the Official Gazette on July 6. Accordingly, it has been stated that Murat Çetinkaya has been relieved of his duty as the Central Bank Governor as per the Additional Clause 35 of the Statutory Decree no. 375 and the Article 2 of the Presidential Decree no. 3.

In the first statement of new Governor Murat Uysal published on the official website of the Central Bank, it has been indicated that "the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey will continue to implement its price stability-oriented monetary policy tools in an independent manner."

'Central bank governors cannot be discharged'

The first reaction against the discharge of Murat Çetinkaya from office by a Presidential Decree came from Faik Öztrak, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Spokesperson.

Making a statement on Twitter, Öztrak said, "We have seen that, too. The Governor of independent Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (TCMB) has been discharged from office by a Presidential decree in the death of night on the ground that institutional objectives could not be reached. The ones who did it have lost their right to tell us 'Confide in our economy administration.' TCMB is captive in the hands of Palace. FULL STOP."

Economists and columnists have also reacted against the decree on social media. Uğur Gürses, a columnist on economy, has written on Twitter, "The purpose of discharging Central Bank Governor from office is clear. They want to issue money and decrease the interest rates quickly. However, the Governor cannot be relieved of duty if the reasons cited in the law do not arise. The Presidential decree is not above the law."

Former Governor of Central Bank Durmuş Yılmaz has also posted a series of messages about the issue on Twitter and underlined that except for the conditions stated in the law, "it is not possible to discharge the Governor from office if he or she does not resign himself or herself." "It is the integral part of Central Bank's independence", Yılmaz has further emphasized.

About Murat Uysal

Born in 1971 in Istanbul, Murat Uysal graduated from the Economics Department in English of the Faculty of Economics at Istanbul University after attending Galatasaray High School.

He earned a master's degree in Banking from the Institute of Banking and Insurance at Marmara University and earned his master's degree on Inflation Targeting and Inflation Targeting in Turkey and in the World.

Uysal started his career in banking in 1998, served as Specialist and Manager responsible for Foreign Exchange and Money Markets and Securities. Between 2007 and 2011, Uysal was Head of Money and Capital Markets. He acted as Deputy General Manager responsible for Treasury Management at Halkbank between November 2011 and June 2016.

Uysal served in the following posts simultaneously: Uysal served as a member of the Auditing Board of Halk Investment between 2008 and 2010, as a Board Member of Halk Asset Management in 2011 and as Chairman of the Board of Halk Asset Management from 2012 to 2014. He served as Chairman of the Board at Halk Invest between March 2015 and April 2016. Mr. Uysal speaks English and French.

Uysal, who had been acting as Deputy Governor of the Central Bank since 9 June 2016, was appointed Governor on 6 July 2019. (AÖ/SD)