Turkey blacklists 68 companies including Germany’s Daimler, BASF over Gülen links
Date posted: July 21, 2017
Turkey has named 68 companies as supporters of the Gülen movement, in a list sent to Germany’s federal police, according to Die Zeit weekly.
The list included a Turkish fast food restaurant and a late-night food store, Die Zeit said.
This was sent to German authorities several weeks ago, the newspaper said recalling that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced to have sent 4,500 files on alleged supporters of the movement to Germany and demanded that they be extradited to Turkey.
“In Berlin, the list is described as ‘absurd’ and ‘ridiculous’,” the weekly added. Meanwhile Turkey’s Deputy PM Mehmet Simsek said on Thursday that Turkey is not investigating Daimler and BASF.
At home, Turkey has confiscated 966 companies with assets of $11 billion over links to the movement so far.
The liberal Taraf daily, where I write a column, is one of the few independent newspapers in this country. Those who don’t know the Turkish media well need to know that media outlets are largely owned by private holdings which have close ties to the government. Thus, Turkish newspapers need to consider whether their reporting would harm their bosses’ business connections with the government.
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The Gülen community is a movement of volunteers. The real reason for the row is not the community’s attempt to meddle in politics. It is due to its sheer size and public image. As he did with other groups or communities, Erdoğan sought to take full control of the Hizmet movement in an effort to consolidate his power. Following the defeat of the military tutelage, the government saw a convergence of power. However, the Hizmet movement was not a piece of cake which it could swallow easily. The government had previously purged itself of many bureaucrats who are close to the community.
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