Turkey: Raid against Koza Ipek Holding

ANKARA

Turkish police have launched Tuesday a probe into the Koza Ipek Holding, suspected of financially supporting and dissemination propaganda for a terror organization, authorities said.

Police units from the Combating Organized Crimes branch of the Ankara Police Department began Tuesday morning a raid at the holding’s 23 companies, police sources said.

The holding is suspected of providing financial support and doing propaganda of what government officials call the Gulenist Terror Organization, police sources said, referring to the Gulen movement led by U.S.-based Turkish preacher Fetullah Gulen.

During the search, the police confiscated documents and computers belonging to the holding.

Koza Ipek Holding’s chairman of the board Akin Ipek has reportedly left Turkey, sources said.

Koza Ipek Holding, founded in 1948, assembles more than 20 firms operating in a wide range of sectors, the holding’s website says. The holding owns for instance a gold mine and a media group.

The raid on Koza Ipek Holding’s 23 companies did not include its media organizations, sources from the prosecutor’s office told Anadolu Agency. The raid is still ongoing.

The Turkish government accuses the Gulen movement, led by Fetullah Gulen, of plotting to overthrow the government by infiltrating state institutions, mainly the police and the judiciary.

Gulen supporters are accused by the government of engaging in long-term wiretapping on high-ranking government officials and mounting a coup d'etat attempt through a graft investigation in December 2013, which had targeted Cabinet members.

Shares of Koza Ipek Holding-related companies in Borsa Istanbul (BIST) lost more than 10 percent of their value each on Tuesday morning as the news of police investigating the holding became public.

Ipek Dogal Enerji shares lost 10.95 percent, Koza Altin shares lost 10.86 percent in value; Koza Madencilik shares lost 10.25 in value.