How Turkey’s government became the country’s top tycoon

The Turkish government’s crackdown after the July 15 coup attempt has been expanding rapidly in the business sector, targeting companies accused of financing the so-called Fethullah Gulen Terrorist Organization, as Ankara has designated the Gulen community, which it accuses of planning and executing the putsch. Under a Sept. 1 legislative decree, scores of companies placed under trusteeship by the courts were handed over to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF), that is, to direct government control.

TMSF Chairman Sakir Ercan Gul said Oct. 4 that 252 companies had come under his agency's purview. Since then, that number has continued to grow; scores of businesspeople have been arrested on charges of belonging to or financially supporting the Gulen movement. Last week, 28 companies were seized in the provinces of Duzce and Tokat, bringing the total to nearly 300. The combined value of the companies in TMSF receivership is estimated at 40 billion Turkish liras ($13 billion) at a minimum.

The National Intelligence Organization and the Financial Crimes Investigation Board believe that the Gulen community controls assets in Turkey and abroad worth some $100 billion. Following the May seizure of Bank Asya, known as a Gulenist bank, Gulen couriers carried money from other enterprises and personal accounts abroad in suitcases, according to the intelligence services. Since July 15, $20 billion is said to have been smuggled abroad through such clandestine operations.

With these company seizures, the state has now become Turkey’s largest conglomerate, controlling more enterprises than Koc and Sabanci, the country’s world-caliber business empires. The TMSF has said it will either dissolve or sell off the businesses, depending on their financial situation. The proceeds will go into the state's coffers.