The Cabinet took up the fund crisis on Monday. After the meeting Erdoğan said that principal payments of up to 1 million lira to fund investors would begin in October once the draft law passes Parliament, and that those who made unjust gains would pay the price. The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation into those who shared documents marked “confidential.” According to Cumhuriyet, the draft law will be discussed in the Plan and Budget Committee on Oct. 14; the number of affected investors is 455,758. Cevdet Yılmaz said public resources would not be used (Bloomberg HT, Sözcü, BirGün, Cumhuriyet, DW Türkçe, BBC Türkçe).
Access to the money of hundreds of thousands of small investors and confidence in the stock market depend on this process; the payment timetable will change with the content of the law and the pace of Parliament.
If you are a fund investor, follow payment terms and dates only through official channels and TMSF announcements; do not trust lists or “payment date” messages circulating on social media.
According to circles close to the government, the payment plan is quickly redressing the victims’ grievances and the investigation targets those who made unjust gains; the leak investigation is also necessary for the security of the process.
According to the opposition and critics, names have not been disclosed sufficiently, payments are moving slowly, and the confidentiality investigation may put pressure on journalists and on reporting.
The “October” pledge is tied to a law; the text of the law and the timetable of the committee discussion are still decisive. To watch: Wednesday’s committee session, the date of the first payment and who will have priority.
Bloomberg HT, Sözcü, BirGün, Cumhuriyet, DW Türkçe, BBC Türkçe (Oct. 12, 2026)
After Cabinet meeting, Erdoğan promises fund victims: principal payments of up to 1 million lira to begin in October; investigation opened into those who shared confidential documents
Payments depend on Parliament passing the draft law; it will be discussed on Wednesday in the Plan and Budget Committee.
The Cabinet met on Monday; on the agenda was the fund crisis that caused sharp falls on Borsa Istanbul in September (BirGün, Cumhuriyet, Sözcü, BBC Türkçe). Speaking after the meeting, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that principal payments of up to 1 million lira to fund investors would begin in October, once the draft law passes Parliament (Bloomberg HT, Sözcü, Halk TV). Erdoğan also said that those who made unjust gains through speculation would pay the price (Milliyet, Rudaw); he described criticism aimed at the ruling ranks as “character assassination” (BirGün). A fund is a structure that pools the money of many investors in a common pool and puts it into shares and bonds; what is being discussed in this crisis is how and when the principal of the investors in those pools will be returned. “Principal” means the original amount deposited; we saw no statement on whether returns will be paid.
The number of investors affected by the crisis is 455,758; Cumhuriyet wrote on Monday morning that 43,000 of them had been paid their claims and more than 400,000 were waiting; we have not seen this breakdown separately confirmed by the government. The 9-article draft law concerning investors will be taken up on Wednesday, Oct. 14, in the Plan and Budget Committee of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (TBMM) (Cumhuriyet). So the “October” date Erdoğan gave rests on a text that must first pass the committee and the General Assembly; we have not yet seen the details of the text.
On the investigation front, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office opened an ex officio investigation into those sharing documents marked “confidential” on social media and digital platforms; according to Cumhuriyet, the basis is Article 285 of the Turkish Penal Code, which regulates breach of the confidentiality of an investigation (Sözcü, Cumhuriyet, DW Türkçe). Cumhuriyet also wrote that high-value outflows from the Tera and Pusula funds in the first half of September are being examined and that these, at “401 billion lira in 16 days,” raised suspicion of a leak; we saw this figure only in that newspaper. The Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) announced it would recruit assistant fund auditors, assistant experts and lawyers (Sözcü). Cevdet Yılmaz, for his part, spoke of decisions on measures and liquidation covering 7 companies and 131 funds (Sözcü).
Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, who chairs the Fund Coordination Board, said public resources would not be used to redress the victims’ grievances and said “Let no one cast a shadow over these markets” (BirGün); he also noted that the State Supervisory Council was examining the institutions (BBC Türkçe). What is certain now: the Cabinet’s taking up the matter, Erdoğan’s October pledge and the confidentiality investigation. What is not certain: the exact day of the first payment, who will be paid first, the fate of claims above 1 million lira and the final text of the law. What has been announced does not yet fully answer the question of how much of their money the victims will get back, and when. The parliamentary calendar will be decisive this week. Erdoğan’s word is not a payment schedule with a fixed date but a conditional sentence: if the law passes, it will begin in October. A text that passes the committee must also be voted on in the General Assembly; we have not yet seen the dates of these stages announced.
On the opposition front, fund victims visited the Yeni Parti group; Murat Emir called on investors to organise (BirGün, Cumhuriyet). So the matter is not only a payment timetable; who will be held responsible, why names have not been disclosed and how the investigation will be conducted are also on politics’ agenda. The figures and dates in these columns are given to the extent that government sources and two independent publications agree; single-source claims are in the unverified section.