Court seizes control of Gülen-linked industry, media group

The appointment of a trustee panel for Koza ?pek, a corporation linked to the Islamic Scholar Fethullah Gülen, ahead of the general elections on Nov. 1 has created an uproar across Turkey amid scuffles between the police and supporters of the firm in the company's building on Oct. 27.

An Ankara court decided late Oct. 26 to appoint a trustee panel to Koza ?pek, upon the request of the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, state-run Anadolu Agency reported. 

The Ankara 5th Court of Peace said in a statement on Oct. 26 that it was "necessary to assign managers with full control to prevent crime and to protect evidence in a case in which reports have revealed that this company has helped and been involved in the activities of an organization titled FETÖ/PDY which is said to have attempted to topple the government."

The holding owns two daily newspapers, Bugün and Millet, and two television stations, Bugün TV and Kanaltürk.

The Ankara Prosecutor's Office said in a statement that they had found evidence of illegal donations as well as gold which were delivered to the company as part of donations.

"Hundreds of pages of [illegal] donations were found in the computers of the related holding and the companies linked to it. These donations were shown as interest received from the gold production and the money was laundered by front companies," prosecutors said.

Police officers forcefully entered the Koza ?pek Holding headquarters in Ankara on Oct. 27, deploying tear gas on protesters that had gathered to support the firm. An attempt to serve the court ruling to Koza ?pek Holding's media group headquarters in Istanbul failed, after the holding's lawyers refused to receive the official notice, arguing that the police...