Loyal depositors shore up Bank Asya

Istanbul

SELLING everything from their sofas to their wedding rings, Bank Asya clients are battling to shore up the Turkish lender against what they say is a government-orchestrated bid to scuttle it.

Social networking sites in Turkey are plastered with notices from customers trying to raise funds in the form of deposits for the bank. "Save Bank Asya from sinking!" reads one.

The Islamic lender, which has more than a million deposit-holding customers and 282 branches, is caught in a power struggle between President Tayyip Erdogan and Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic cleric whose sympathisers founded the bank.

Mr Erdogan has long accused Mr Gulen - now based in the United States - of seeking to overthrow him and has pledged to purge institutions such as the police and judiciary of his supporters. Their rift has gained intensity since last December's discovery of a government graft scandal which Mr Erdogan blamed …