His resignation was reportedly submitted by Turkish Finance Minister Lutfi Elvan, according to the opposition daily Cumhuriyet, but was not accepted by Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“Due to the rapid rise in exchange rates, the devaluation of the Turkish pound and the difficulties in transferring funds to the Ministry of Finance, Lutfi Elvan resigned from his post,” said the opposition press flagship. “However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not accepted his resignation at this time.”
Elvan is said to have no good relations with Deputy Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati, who was appointed under former Finance Minister and Erdogan's son-in-law Berat Albayrak. Elvan and Nebati do not agree on monetary policy.
According to Cumhuriyet, in place of Elvan, if his resignation is finally accepted, either Albayrak or Nebati will be appointed and Albayrak will head the ministry behind the scenes.
The government denies it
However, the Turkish presidency's communications director, Fahrettin Altun, denied the news of the resignation of the finance minister.
Reacting via Twitter, Fahrettin Altun wrote: “Finance Minister Lutfi Elvan is in place. The so-called news is a lie. It is bad to try to create fake agendas with such unfounded news for any reason. You owe the public an apology! “
