A high criminal court in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri on Tuesday handed down a prison sentence to the wife of an executive of Boydak Holding on charges of terrorism due to her alleged links to the Gülen movement.
Müjgan Boydak, the wife of Mustafa Boydak, received seven years, six months based on the testimony of a secret witness and a money transfer to the movement-affiliated Melikşah University.
The Turkish government brands the Gülen movement as a terrorist organization, claiming it to have masterminded a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, although the movement strongly denies any involvement.
Müjgan Boydak will not be sent to prison to serve her sentence until an appeal is adjudicated; however, she has been prohibited from leaving Turkey.
Meanwhile, Meral Boydak, the spouse of another Boydak executive, also was sentenced to seven years, six months last month on similar charges.
Previously, Boydak Holding executive Memduh Boydak was given a jail sentence of 18 years on charges of leading a terrorist organization. Hacı Boydak received 11 years, 10 months and Şükrü Boydak 10 years, both on charges of membership in a terrorist organization. These three defendants were already in pre-trial detention.
Former Boydak Chairman Hacı Boydak, CEO of Boydak Holding, Memduh Boydak, and two other board members, Erol Boydak and Murat Bozdağ, were detained in March 2016 on charges of supporting the so-called “parallel state,” a reference to the Gülen movement coined by the Turkish government.
Erol Boydak was released after interrogation by prosecutors, while Hacı Boydak and Memduh Boydak were subsequently arrested.
The government in August 2016 also seized Boydak Holding, which is among Turkey’s largest industrial groups.
Boydak Holding is active in a number of sectors, including energy, furniture and banking with 38 subsidiary companies. According to its website, it has an annual turnover of more than TL 6 billion ($2 billion) and employs over 13,000 people.