The arrest of 20 individuals under the scope of a prosecution targeting Istanbul Altin Rafinerisi (Istanbul Gold Refinery/IAR) has been ordered by an Istanbul court, government-run news service Anadolu Agency reported on October 9.

As part of the prosecution conducted by the Istanbul chief public prosecutor’s office, 24 people have been detained since October 6. Two detainees have been released by officials of the gendarmerie and prosecutors, while two have been released on bail.

As things stand, the company has not been seized.

“Fictitious exporter”

The suspects, including company head Ozcan Halac, are accused of running fictitious export schemes to benefit from a 3% state incentive provided for export activities.

In 2023, bne IntelliNews, in an article headlined “Turkey’s central bank collecting physical dollars at Grand Bazaar”, referred to “A fictitious exporter, or in other words a person who launders money via non-export activities.”

On the other side of the kind of scheme in question, a “fictitious exporter” also benefits from export incentives.

For Turks, “fictitious exports” or “fictitious exporters” carry nostalgic value. They remind of the 90s.

The difference is that Turkey in those times was more or less seen as a hybrid democracy with rival power groups targeting each other. Currently, it is intra-regime gangs who are seizing each other’s wealth, generally earned via thievery that focuses on public sources.

Fifth largest industrial enterprise

Gold miner and producer IAR was in 2024 the fifth largest industrial enterprise in Turkey with Turkish lira (TRY) 167bn ($4bn) worth of production-based sales.

An IAR unit, Gramaltin (Gram Altin), which produces one gram pieces of gold bullion, was the ninth largest industrial enterprise in the 2023 ranking.

Erdoganist businessmen falling one by one

According to local media reports, the Halac family is close to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Since 2002, Turkey’s government has used deposit insurance fund TMSF as a tool for wealth transfer. As of October 10, TMSF had established management over 1,056 companies.

The latest wave of company seizures, launched with the taking of Maydanoz Doner in February, has seen seizures executed via three arms, namely the operation centred on the jailing of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, operations aimed at illegal betting or economic crime and the Gulenist operation.

(See the developments regarding company seizures here). 

Separately, multiple municipalities run by opposition parties have been seized by the government.

Under the illegal betting or economic crime operations, Erdoganist businessmen are among those targeted.

In March, 23 companies owned by Erkan Kork (including Bankpozitif, Flash TV, fintech companies Payfix, Aypara (iPara) and Ininal) were seized as part of a prosecution aimed at illegal sports betting. Kork was an AKP supporter.

In September, TMSF took over Can Holding. Haberturk TV, Show TV, BloombergHT, Istanbul Bilgi University, Doga Kolejleri and Tekfen Holding (TKFEN) are among the seized units.

“Alo Fatih”

Foreign media described Can Holding’s media units as providing some of the last independent broadcasting in Turkey. This is entirely wrong. 

In 2013, the Gulenists released tape recordings of phone calls between Turkey’s then PM and current president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and an official at the media group. The official’s name was Fatih.

On the tapes, Erdogan is heard regularly calling Fatih to change headlines shown on TV screens or end some broadcasts. This incident is known as the “Alo Fatih” or “Hello Fatih” incident as each tape starts with Erdogan saying “Alo Fatih”.

At the time, the companies were owned by Ciner Holding. In 2024, Ciner sold its media group to Can. The accusation is that Can earned money from cigarette smuggling and laundered its black cash via the acquisition.

One can easily question why Can was allowed to acquire leading Turkish media companies, education companies and Borsa Istanbul-listed contractors, and how it is that such a big volume of smuggling activities were not detected until now, despite the long run of prosecutions and media reports across the last two decades.

Wanted man: Turgay Ciner

Following the Can Holding operation, the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office targeted the other side of the transaction. Kenan Tekdag, who led the media group for decades as CEO, is currently under house arrest together with Fatih.

Turgay Ciner, the owner of Ciner Holding, is a fugitive. There is speculation that he is in London. In recent years, Ciner was among Erdoganist businessmen who transferred their wealth abroad.

Ciner’s Park Holding together with its subsidiaries, namely AFC Ithalat Ihracat Turizm, Zeyfa Ithalat Ihracat, Silopi Elektrik and Borsa Istanbul-listed Park Elektrik (PRKME), as well as some of Ciner Holding’s subsidiaries, including Kasimpasaspor (an Istanbul-based football club in Turkey’s top soccer league), were also seized.

London-based We Soda, a unit of Istanbul-based Ciner Holding (owned by Turgay Ciner), is the largest natural soda ash producer in the world.

We Soda has two production facilities in Turkey, namely Kazan Soda and Eti Soda. The company and its Turkey plants are yet to be targeted, but We Soda eurobonds have been hit hard.