According to the rumors circulated in the Turkish websites, Akbank has laid off 1,500 to 1,700 people.



The bank officials did not confirm or deny the reports. "I cannot give you any information. I cannot say whether the reports are correct or not," Hayri Culhaci, the Vice President of Akbank, was quoted as saying by a Turkish news portal.



The reports said new hiring was also suspended.



The rumors came only a couple of days after Citigroup, who owns 25 percent of Akbank, reportedly undertake another round of massive layoffs.



The Wall Street Journal said on Friday the financial services giant will let go some 10,000 workers, with the cuts starting as early as this week.



If confirmed, this would be the first major job cuts in the Turkish financial sector since the beginning of the global credit crisis.



The Turkish financial sector had been isolated from the global crisis because of its sound fundamentals mainly thanks to the reforms made since the economic crisis in 2001.



Akbank is owned by conglomerate Sabanci Holding and Citigroup.



Last week Akbank said its net profit in the first nine months of the year stood at 1.5 billion lira ($980 million).



It did not provide a comparison but, according to previously released figures, it achieved a net profit of 1.62 billion lira in the same period last year.