WHAT DOES ATATURK AND CHP HAVE TO DO WITH ISBANK SHARES?

IMAGINE YOUR grandfather or your great grandfather served in the Turkish War of Independence, won the approval of Ataturk, and handed down one percent of IsBank’s shares to him. Ataturk said, “This is your share but you will not use it for your interest; you will donate the profit to help a student and you will get a seat in the bank’s management board to oversee this donation.” Now you are an inspector in the bank’s management, as your grandfather’s inheritor, to see if the profit is used in line with his will. Years later, the government in power tries to take this away from you, arguing: “Ataturk’s legacy cannot be handed down to one person; this share should be transferred to the Treasury.”

Wouldn’t you object? Wouldn’t you try to protect your heritage?

This is an assumption, but what about the truth?

Now, say the inheritor is not your grandfather but the Republican People’s Party (CHP), founded by Ataturk himself. He specifically laid down a no personal profit condition when he handed down these shares to the CHP. Is the CHP’s share of the profit transferred directly to the Turkish Language Association and the Turkish Historical Society in line with Ataturk’s will? Yes, it is. In that case, what are we arguing about?

ALL THIS FIGHTING OVER FOUR MEMBERS OF THE BOARD

The CHP has four members on IsBank’s Board of Management under Ataturk’s will. These four members don’t have a say in the bank’s operations and decision making processes. They are only there to do their assigned jobs.

Now let’s consider: Does the CHP gain anything from its partnership with Isbank? The answer is no. All the CHP members on the bank’s board of management are very qualified. (Let’s not forget, the existing CHP members are all graduates of Faculties of Political Science, they have all served in senior positions in public management and represented Turkey overseas).

So, what’s all this fighting about? There’s another factor here: The government in power often brings this issue forward but doesn’t do anything about it.

If they wanted to do something about it, they would take the decision today, act on it tomorrow and complete the operation in a few days. But they haven’t.

THE INHERITANCE

LAW WOULD BE DESTROYED

Firstly, the government in power is aware that this so-called operation is not real. Such an operation would lead us to a disaster. If they complete the operation,

it would mean the destruction of the inheritance law. Ataturk wrote his will, put a date and place on it, and signed it. A revision would result in changing Ataturk’s will with the law after so many years. No one’s will would be under protection if Ataturk’s will is altered.

Let’s say the CHP shares in IsBank are transferred to the Treasury. Would the profit from these shares also go to the Treasury or would they continue to be transferred to the Turkish Language Association and the Turkish Historical Society?

The constitution forbids the money to be transferred to the Treasury. The second item of the 134th article of the Constitution reads: “The financial income of the Turkish

Language Society and Turkish Historical Society, bequeathed to them by Ataturk in his will, are reserved and shall be allocated to them accordingly.” If the profit will continue to be transferred to these organizations in line with the Constitution, it seems like the issue is with the four IsBank Board members. Would the government in power begin such an operation only to remove these four CHP members from the board?

There’s either something else going on or the government will bring this issue forward regurlarly but not do anything about it.

ECONOMIC DISTRUST WILL INCREASE

Second, is it worth causing a scene in the country and changing the world’s perception of Turkey to unseat these four members from the board and to take control of these shares from the CHP?

Think about it: if the money will be transferred to the same institution, what difference would it make if CHP controls 28 percent of IsBank shares? Would it be worth driving foreign investment further away from Turkey?

Does the government in power not see it? We shouldn’t forget how IsBank shares were transferred to the Treasury in the 1950s and in 1980, after the CHP was closed. But these attempts were not successful due to the constitution.

I’m not sure if the government will make the same mistake a third time. But the possibility that this operation will fail due to the constitution is still strong, and I’m sure that is part of their calculus. But what’s more important is that such an operation will take more than it will give.