Turkish prosecutors on Thursday seized control of a 121-company conglomerate, which includes three major television stations, and ordered the arrest of 10 of its executives on fraud charges, media reports said.
The arrest order targeted management at Can Holding, which is known for its energy and education assets and which last year acquired prominent TV channels including Haberturk, Show TV and Bloomberg HT, an affiliate of Bloomberg News.
In a statement published in Turkish media, prosecutors in the Istanbul district of Kucukcekmece said they had uncovered evidence that 鈥榓n organisation was established to commit crimes through companies operating under Can Holding including fraud, tax evasion and money laundering鈥�.
It ordered the arrest of 10 people, including Can Holding鈥檚 owners, and placed the assets of its 121 companies under the charge of a third party, the TMSF (Savings Deposit Insurance Fund of Turkey).
Bloomberg HT is the main Turkish-language channel focused on business and the economy.
In early morning raids, police detained Can鈥檚 three top executives Mehmet Sakir Can, Kemal Can, and Kenan Tekdag, the private NTV channel said.
Tekdag is head of Ciner Media Group, which was acquired by the conglomerate in December, with Can saying he would be responsible for all of its media holdings.
The move comes as the government has tightened its grip over the media, drawing a warning from watchdog Reporters Without Borders.
鈥楾he operation targeting Can Holding, the owner of Haberturk & BloombergHT, may have its own justifications. The corruption in the sector is undeniable,鈥� RSF鈥檚 Turkey representative Erol Onderoglu said.
鈥楬owever, the process may also serve an environment where control over media ownership is further tightened with the aim of establishing a single voice.鈥�
But Yakup Kucukkale, an economy professor at Karadeniz Technical University, said the move went beyond the seizure of media outlets and appeared to involve 鈥榮erious allegations鈥� such as money laundering.
鈥楾hese are well-known, widely watched channels 鈥� Bloomberg HT is the best-known channel for economics but behind these seizures lies a much more serious accusation,鈥� he said.
鈥楢round 120 companies were seized so it would be a mistake to think of this operation as simply controlling the (business and) economy media.鈥�
