Levent Kenez/Stockholm
Turkey’s growing investment fund scandal has opened a new line of inquiry stretching from the country’s financial markets to Finland. The investigation has drawn attention to the business activities of Emre Tezmen, the detained chair of Tera Holding, his investment in Aura Portföy and the appointment of a Turkish ambassador whose sister is a former senior ruling party official who resigned amid allegations concerning stock trading.
At the center of the Finland-related questions is Tezmen, chairman of Tera Holding, who was arrested as part of an investigation into suspected manipulation and irregularities in Turkey’s investment funds. Tezmen had acquired a 9.90 percent stake in Aura Portföy, an investment company that was initially established with 17 shareholders, according to information cited by opposition lawmakers. A Finland-based company was also among the shareholders.
The investment structure has attracted attention because of the scale of trading and financial movements associated with Tezmen and other shareholders. Opposition lawmakers have alleged that large amounts of money moved through the company, including transfers involving foreign destinations, and have called for the transactions to be examined as part of the broader fund investigation. They have not provided evidence establishing that the transfers were illegal.
Tezmen’s connection to Finland also includes his appointment as chairman of the Turkey-Finland Business Council under Turkey’s Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) on January 19, 2026. The appointment put the head of a company later at the center of a major Turkish financial investigation in charge of a business council responsible for promoting economic ties between Turkey and Finland.
Months later, on September 5, 2026, Ayşe Hilal Sayan Koytak was appointed Turkey’s ambassador to Finland. Koytak is the sister of Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya, a former family minister and senior official of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Kaya resigned from her party leadership position following allegations concerning stock transactions.
According to allegations cited in the fund investigation, Kaya sold shares whose value had risen amid allegations of market manipulation to a fund managed by Tezmen.
The sequence of events has attracted attention because several separate Finland-related links appear in the financial and political circumstances now being examined. Tezmen became chairman of the bilateral business council in January 2026. His investment in Aura Portföy involved a Finland-based shareholder, while Koytak was appointed ambassador to Finland in September 2026.
Koytak’s diplomatic appointment was not her first senior government position. She had previously served as Turkey’s ambassador to Kuwait and Bahrain. Her career has included positions in public administration and diplomacy, while her sister rose through the AKP ranks and served as family minister.
The Sayan family has held several prominent positions in Turkey’s public sector. Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya served as family minister before becoming an AKP deputy chairwoman. Her brother, Ömer Fatih Sayan, filled senior positions at the Information and Communication Technologies Authority and later became a deputy transport and infrastructure minister before being appointed to the Energy Market Regulatory Board. Koytak served in diplomacy, including ambassadorial posts, while another sister, Nazmiye Sümeyye Sayan, was on the Istanbul City Council.
A further Finland connection runs through Taaleri Plc, a Finnish private equity and asset management company that has operated in Turkey’s financial markets, including through the Taaleri Turkey Equity Fund. Emir Münir Sarpyener, who is now a senior executive at Tera Yatırım, previously worked in business development at Taaleri/Aura Portföy from 2017 to 2021. He later joined Tera and became a board member and CEO, creating another link between the Finnish financial sector and a company now caught up in Turkey’s fund investigation. Sarpyener was arrested on October 1, 2026, as part of the investigation into the investment fund scandal.
A further allegation concerning the Finland posting has been raised by journalist Cevheri Güven, who has focused on the professional background of Koytak’s husband, Enis Koytak. Güven mentioned that Enis Koytak previously worked at Türksat,Turkey’s state-owned satellite communications company, before becoming a department head at Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) during the tenure of then-MIT chief Hakan Fidan, who is now foreign minister.
Güven has sought to connect that alleged intelligence background with companies associated with the fund investigation, pointing to other individuals he says moved between MİT and companies linked to Tera. Those specific connections have not been independently established in the material reviewed for this report.
Güven has also questioned the rationale for Koytak’s appointment to Finland, pointing to Turkey’s state-owned mining company Eti Maden and its Finnish subsidiary, AB Eti Products Oy. The Finland connection comes amid separate allegations concerning Justice Minister Akın Gürlek, who is overseeing the government’s response to the fund investigation. Turkish lawmaker Ahmet Şık has called for an investigation into whether Gürlek was among investors in one of Tera’s funds during its period of closure, while opposition figures have also questioned Gürlek’s past appointment to the board of Etimine SA, an Eti Maden subsidiary in Luxembourg.
Güven has further highlighted Eti Maden’s network of foreign subsidiaries, which critics have argued warrants closer examination. These claims form part of Güven’s broader allegations concerning links among members of the Sayan family, Turkish intelligence officials and companies involved in the fund investigation. The specific connections he alleges have not been independently established in the material reviewed for this report.
The concentration of public positions among members of the same family has previously attracted criticism from opposition politicians, who have questioned whether political connections played a role in their appointments. The appointments themselves do not establish that any member of the family acted improperly or obtained a position unlawfully.
The latest questions arise in the middle of a financial investigation in which one of the family’s prominent political members has already stepped down. Kaya resigned from her position as an AKP deputy chairwoman after allegations emerged over investments made by her and her husband, İlyas Kaya, in shares of shipbuilder Özata Denizcilik.
Opposition figures alleged that the couple invested about 163 million Turkish lira in the company and later sold or otherwise disposed of holdings worth about 2.17 billion lira following a sharp increase in their value. The precise nature and timing of the transactions should be distinguished from the allegations about the value of the holdings.
The allegations concerning Kaya have not resulted in a public criminal finding against her. Her resignation has nevertheless prompted opposition figures to question whether politically connected individuals are being subjected to the same investigation and enforcement measures as others caught up in the fund scandal.
The broader investigation was launched following turmoil involving investment funds and has resulted in arrests, asset restrictions and the liquidation of funds. Turkey’s Capital Markets Board( SPK) ordered the liquidation of 131 funds associated with seven portfolio management companies on September 17. The funds had 455,758 individual investors, according to figures cited in the Turkish media.
The financial investigation has also brought renewed attention to Tezmen’s institutional roles. Tezmen served on the board of the Central Securities Depository (MKK) along with Deputy Trade Minister Mustafa Tuzcu. Tuzcu was also involved in the Trade Ministry’s work related to the Turkey-Finland Business Council.
Tezmen’s role on the MKK board and his subsequent appointment to the Turkey-Finland Business Council have prompted questions about whether his business relationships and investments should have been examined before the appointment and whether the relevant authorities were aware of those interests at the time.
Similar questions have been raised about Aura Portföy. The company was initially established with 17 shareholders, according to allegations cited by opposition lawmakers. Tezmen subsequently acquired a 9.90 percent stake, while a Finland-based company was also a shareholder.
Opposition lawmakers have also pointed to large buying and selling transactions involving Tezmen, Tera and other individuals, saying that the financial movements included transfers abroad. The lawmakers have called for the transactions and the Finland-related corporate interests to be examined as part of the larger investigation.
The calls for officials to be removed from their posts have come from Yeni Party lawmaker Deniz Yavuzyılmaz and Republican People’s Party (CHP) lawmaker Cevdet Akay. Yavuzyılmaz has called for Deputy Trade Minister Tuzcu and Ambassador Koytak to be removed, arguing that their institutional links with Tezmen warrant examination. Akay has separately called for the Finland-related financial relationships and transfers involving Aura Portföy to be investigated.
