Non-economic factors have once again begun to weigh on Turkish markets. Most recently, the indictment against Ekrem Imamoglu—who was removed from his post as mayor of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality as part of a corruption investigation—was unveiled last week. With the announcement of the indictment, which seeks a prison sentence of up to 2,430 years for Imamoglu, risk appetite in the markets has declined.

Looking at price action on Borsa Istanbul, the BIST 100 index tested levels above 11,000 points last week and hit an intraday high of 11,044. After the indictment, however, the index fell to as low as 10,373 points on Tuesday. On a weekly basis, the index lost 3.28% in value and closed at 10,565 points.

Meanwhile, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek stated: "We know that certain manipulations are being carried out, especially through some funds." He added that the government would work to increase penalties and strengthen the regulatory framework, warning that if market manipulation could not be fought forcefully, confidence would remain weak. Despite this backdrop, we can highlight as positive factors the relatively stable outlook of Türkiye's CDS risk premium, which has remained close to 240 basis points, and the continued calm in exchange rates.

Non-economic factors have once again begun to weigh on Turkish markets. Most recently, the indictment against Ekrem Imamoglu—who was removed from his post as mayor of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality as part of a corruption investigation—was unveiled last week. With the announcement of the indictment, which seeks a prison sentence of up to 2,430 years for Imamoglu, risk appetite in the markets has declined.

Looking at price action on Borsa Istanbul, the BIST 100 index tested levels above 11,000 points last week and hit an intraday high of 11,044. After the indictment, however, the index fell to as low as 10,373 points on Tuesday. On a weekly basis, the index lost 3.28% in value and closed at 10,565 points.

Meanwhile, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek stated: "We know that certain manipulations are being carried out, especially through some funds." He added that the government would work to increase penalties and strengthen the regulatory framework, warning that if market manipulation could not be fought forcefully, confidence would remain weak. Despite this backdrop, we can highlight as positive factors the relatively stable outlook of Türkiye's CDS risk premium, which has remained close to 240 basis points, and the continued calm in exchange rates.