The April Fools' Joke That Punished Shareholders

According to Bloomberg report, Ulker released a 50-second animated video as an April Fools' joke, which depicted siblings performing pranks on each other. But the narrator of the video signed off with the phrase "now is the day of reckoning," which reminiscent of last year's attempted military coup in Turkey.

'Allusions To Revenge'

Lawmakers within President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling government said that the April Fools' video attempted to "manipulate the psychology of 80 million people." Even the country's Prime Minister Binali Yildrim commented on the video in a television interview and said it was "inept."

"Apparently, there were some remarks reminiscent of the days of the coup attempt, and some allusion to revenge."

The large and widely unexpected backlash from high ranking government officials in Turkey impacted several publicly traded stocks in Turkey. Shares of Ulker lost as much as 5 percent on Monday. Yildiz Holdings, the private equity firm and parent company of the Ulker brand, lost as much as 7.5 percent.

The April Fools' joke is also a harsh reminder of the fragile political and economic situation in Turkey.