Head of Turkey's Central Bank resigns, Erdogan appoints new governor

(Patria) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed Central Bank Deputy Governor Fatih Karahan as the head of Turkey's central bank, the official gazette announced early on Saturday after former central bank chief Hafize Gaye Erkan said on Friday she was resigning less than a year into the job due to a media scandal involving her family, AFP reported.

The prominent former Wall Street executive said on social media that she "asked the president to be pardoned from my duties, which I have performed with (honour) since the first day."

The 44-year-old came under fierce attacks on social media and in some opposition publications for allegedly allowing her father to make unauthorized personnel decisions at the bank.

Erkan also reportedly angered President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by telling a major newspaper last month that she had to move in with her parents because inflation made renting in Istanbul unaffordable.

The attacks on Turkey's first female central bank governor unsettled investors and created uncertainty about Erdogan's long-term commitment to his team.

"A major character assassination campaign has recently been organized against me," Erkan said.

She added that she was stepping down "to prevent my family and my innocent child, who is not even a year and a half old, from being further affected by this process."

Erdogan appointed Erkan in June.