Turkey's Borsa Istanbul has decided to go public, it said in a statement on Tuesday, in an offering that will see the $220 billion stock exchange sell up to nearly 43 per cent of its capital.

Turkey's sole stock exchange said it planned to sell shares held by the national Treasury, adding it had started a process to select bookrunners.

The public offering is expected to be completed by the end of this year, with a possible extension through 2016, upon the decision of the minister in charge of the Treasury, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan.

Borsa Istanbul is the world's 29th largest stock exchange by market value of listed companies, according to data from the World Federation of Exchanges.

The Treasury owns 49 per cent of the exchange, with 36.6 owned by the bourse itself. Nasdaq OMX owns 5 per cent, while the Turkish Capital Markets Association owns 1.3 per cent.- Reuters