The abrupt resignation of Recep Tayyip Erdogan's son-in-law from one of Turkey's most powerful cabinet positions shocked the government and angered ruling party members who say the nature of his departure damages the president.

Finance and Treasury Minister Berat Albayrak oversaw economic policy for two tumultuous years during which Turkey endured economic slowdowns, the COVID-19 pandemic and a 45 percent slide in the lira.

Many people in Turkey, including some officials in Erdogan's AK Party, believed the president was grooming the 42-year-old former businessman as a future party leader and even as possible successor.

But in a highly unusual resignation statement posted on Instagram on Sunday, Albayrak said he was stepping down, one day after Erdogan sacked the Central Bank governor and, according to officials, ignored Albayrak's preference for a successor.

Albayrak's message, addressed not to Erdogan but "for the attention of the public," said he was resigning for health reasons. It was followed by silence as presidency officials said they scrambled, and failed, to track him down for clarification.

It took more than 24 hours for the government to respond, with a brief statement from the presidency saying Erdogan had accepted Albayrak's resignation. There was no immediate decision on a successor.

Earlier, Erdogan made no mention of Albayrak in a speech in Ankara. 

Television networks, mostly owned by businesses close to the presidency, have studiously ignored the departure of the government's economic policy-maker.