Gulen-Linked Stocks Face Squeeze as Erdogan Blames Rival: Chart

(Bloomberg) -- Turkish companies with suspected ties to U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen have underperformed the Borsa Istanbul 100 Index since the cleric’s rivalry with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan became public in late 2013. The stocks and the benchmark dropped more on Monday after Erdogan’s followers blamed Gulen for Friday’s coup attempt and the president said the plotters “will pay a heavy price for their treason.” Trading in Gulen-linked Bank Asya was suspended Friday and its operations were halted Monday.

To contact the reporters on this story: Tugce Ozsoy in Istanbul at tozsoy1@bloomberg.net, Phil Kuntz in New York at pkuntz1@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nikolaj Gammeltoft at ngammeltoft@bloomberg.net, Samuel Potter at spotter33@bloomberg.net.