Turkey introduces new decree law to seize all Gulen-related companies
Date posted: August 25, 2016
Thanks to a new decree law released as part of the state of emergency declared late on July 20 following a failed coup, Turkey’s government is now set to seize all the Turkish companies owned by businessmen somehow linked to the US-based Islamic Scholar Fethullah Gülen.
AK Party government has already been appointing trustees to private entities in Turkey, as part of its battle against Gulen Movement since a corruption scandal led to the resignation of four Cabinet ministers in December 2013. A total of 2,000 trustees were appointed to hundreds of private entities in Turkey since the beginning of 2016.
According to Haber Türk daily, takeover of Turkish companies linked to Gulen movement through appointment of trustees became a thing of the past, as Turkish government now “legally” authorized by a new decree law to nationalize/privatize any entities affiliated with the movement.
The Gülen movement is a grassroots social initiative inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. Erdoğan refers to the movement as “Fethullahist Terrorist Organization.”
On Dec. 25, Mahir Zeynalov sent out two tweets. “The first tweet contained a link to a news report about the second wave of a massive graft operation and how police blocked a raid involving more than 40 suspects, including Saudi businessman Yasin al-Qadi — listed as a specially designated terrorist by the United States,” Today’s Zaman reported Jan. 31. Zeynalov’s tweets are no longer present on his Twitter account. “’Turkish prosecutors order police to arrest al-Qaeda affiliates, Erdogan’s appointed police chiefs refuse to comply,’ read the first tweet. In the second tweet, Zeynalov shared a news report detailing al-Qaeda suspects’ escape from the country after police chiefs blocked the raid on Dec. 25.”
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