President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan participated in Borsa İstanbul’s 143rd anniversary celebrations and the launch of its new office buildings.
Borsa İstanbul Group participations Takas İstanbul, Merkezi Kayıt İstanbul and Gold Custody Center were launched with a ceremony participated by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
In the speech he delivered at Borsa İstanbul’s 143rd anniversary celebrations and the launch of its new office buildings, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Borsa İstanbul Group continues to grow stronger.
Erdoğan emphasized that Borsa İstanbul Group entered a new era upon the launch of Takas İstanbul and Merkezi Kayıt İstanbul office buildings and Precious Metals Custody Center at Kuyumcukent, pointing out to the importance of increasing the Center’s capacity from 100 tons to 1,600 tons.
Erdoğan said that it was no coincidence that one of the targets of Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) during the coup attempt on July 15 was Borsa İstanbul, and wished his best for the martyrs of July 15, especially those that lost their lives at Borsa İstanbul.
Erdoğan continued to say:
"All kinds of attacks towards Turkey are designed and realized with an economic perspective. If the Turkish economy is not deep, such attacks can easily succeed. We know that the 1994 and 2001 crises were initiated through speculations of merely a few billion Dollars.
Those that want to make Turkey fully dependent on foreign countries have never taken their hands off the country. Since 2003, there have been times when they attempted to practice similar methods. We have seen attempts to throw Turkey into crises through the Exchange, through currency rates, and interest rates. In order to hinder our large scale projects, they have tried everything, particularly increasing the pressure on interest rates, but everyone must know now: Turkey is no longer the old Turkey. The Turkish economy has grown drastically. Despite this, the economic attacks on Turkey have not ended. As our nation is aware of this trap, our people hold on the Turkish economy, which they see as the most important part of their independence and future.”
Erdoğan said that as Turkey continues to resist, to fight, the counterparties attack even harder, and added:
"Recently, they have been using the foreign currency rate as a tool to beat us; let them do so. We are producing alternatives, and we will continue to do that. There is no other explanation for the foreign currency rates to increase without any grounds and irrationally. I must say that we have both the strength and facilities to confront such attacks”.
Erdoğan added that the Turkish economy has successfully overcome numerous difficult tests and that he wholeheartedly believes that it will overcome the current problems in a short time. Erdoğan said that like all problems, economic problems can be overcome by attacking rather than defending.
Erdoğan said that those that see the economy consisting of merely financial instruments are short-sighted, and went on to say, “We must change this understanding. Not only finance, but the real economy is very important for us at this point. If you look at it, those that deal with the financial sector only, and have weak relations with the real economy have devastated themselves and the country. Economy is the human, it is everything about the humans. Thank God, the Turkish people stand tall; holding strongly on to their country, democracy and freedom with a heroic approach, and always ready to make new epic stories”.
Borsa İstanbul Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee Himmet Karadağ said in his speech:
“Esteemed President, as the coup attempt on July 15 remained futile thanks to your leadership and our nation’s epic standing, the evil forces now target the Turkish economy, attacking the interest rates and foreign currency.
Borsa İstanbul was the only financial institution that was occupied during the coup attempt, and as the first organization to respond to the President’s call, Borsa İstanbul converted its fee tariffs and all liquid assets in its portfolio to Turkish Lira.”
Karadağ said that Borsa İstanbul actively works on the 2023 targets and Istanbul International Financial Center vision, adding, “Within this framework, we are entering strategic cooperations with the leading financial institutions of the world. Our strategic partnerships with NASDAQ and EBRD are crowned with the historic cooperation that we initiated under your auspices.
These strategic cooperations will allow a financial product range that is becoming with Istanbul to be introduced in Turkey and the international capital markets.”
Karadağ said, “One of the Islamic products that we are working on is real estate certificates. These will help the sector’s liquidity to increase, urban conversion projects to be realized rapidly and efficiently, and decrease the disputes among right owners. Another product that will rejuvenate the capital markets is certificates that are based on the revenues of the joint projects of public and private sectors.
Karadağ continued to say:
“This institutional conversion process, strategic partnerships and newly developed products will significantly accelerate Borsa İstanbul and help us to strongly start our planned Initial Public Offering in 2018.
International Interest-Free Financial Consultancy Board, which is planned to be shortly established in cooperation with Borsa İstanbul, will highly contribute to the standardization of Islamic financial products”.
The ribbon of Takas İstanbul and Merkezi Kayıt İstanbul office buildings and Precious Metals Custody Center in Kuyumcukent were cut jointly by Erdoğan, Karadağ, Istanbul Governor Vasip Şahin, Sovereign Wealth Fund of Turkey CEO Mehmet Bostan, Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) Chairman Şakir Ercan Gül, Takas İstanbul CEO Mahmut Kayacık, and Merkezi Kayıt İstanbul CEO Ahmet Yılmaz.
At the end of the program, Karadağ presented a calligraphic work to President Erdoğan.
