The operator of the Istanbul stock exchange suspended operations for five days on an unprecedented scale and announced that all trades that took place on Wednesday will be canceled after two devastating earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday, News.ro reported with reference to News .ro. Reuters.

Turkey and Syria were rocked by a series of devastating earthquakes in the early hours of Monday, destroying hundreds of buildings and bringing the total number of dead in both countries to over 11,000.

Turkey’s Istanbul Stock Exchange suspended trading in its equity and derivatives markets 90 minutes after opening after two market-wide crashes failed to stem a 7% drop in the main index.

The country’s benchmark index fell about 14% on Monday, with trading volumes well below normal averages, with just 2.24 billion transactions on Tuesday, just over half of Friday’s 4.14 billion.

“Due to increased volatility and extreme price fluctuations after the earthquake, in order to ensure the reliable, transparent, efficient, stable, fair and competitive operation of the markets, the stock market, stock and index derivatives in the derivatives market have been closed,” Borsa Istanbul said in a press release in Wednesday

“Due to the low volume of transactions, which does not allow effective pricing, all transactions concluded on closed markets on February 8, 2023 will be canceled,” the market operator said.

The earthquakes forced such large corporations as BP to declare force majeure in their operations in the disaster zone in southern Turkey.

Domestic investors have launched an online petition demanding the cancellation of all transactions that have taken place since Monday.

“We demand the cancellation of all transactions that took place on Borsa Istanbul starting from February 6, 2023, and the closing of the stock exchange during a period of national mourning,” said a statement accompanying the petition.

Within hours, the petition had more than 5,000 signatures, approaching its goal of 7,500.

Turks, who have suffered for years from rising inflation and a collapsing currency, have taken refuge in the country’s stocks in recent months, sending the main index up 200% in the past year.

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