Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
The Foreign Exchange-Protected Deposit scheme, known as KKM, has come to a complete end after total balances in the accounts dropped to zero, according to weekly data from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK).
Trustees have been appointed to 23 companies owned by Aziz İhsan Aktaş, a key figure in operations targeting CHP-run municipalities, and the companies have been transferred to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF).
The money laundering investigation into Can Holding has now expanded to the Ciner Group. The probe, which includes charges of fraud, money laundering, smuggling, and forming a criminal organization, now focuses on the $350 million sale of media outlets — including Habertürk, Show TV, and Bloomberg HT — from the Ciner Group to Can Holding. According to Sabah daily, the funds were allegedly transported in suitcases and deposited in banks as cash. Turgay Ciner, once among Turkey’s top taxpayers and currently residing abroad, is now the subject of an arrest warrant.
New executives for Can Media—recently seized by Turkey’s Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) amid a money laundering investigation—have now been officially appointed.
Enis Güçlü Şirin, the trustee appointed to İmamoğlu İnşaat—the family business of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu—holds positions on the boards of more than 20 other companies. All the firms where Şirin serves are under the administration of Turkey’s Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) which operates firms that have been seized by the state often because of bankruptcy, tax debts, or links to the Gülenist movement.