Koza-İpek Holding, affiliates seized over Gülen links transferred to sovereign wealth fund

Twelve companies, including Koza-İpek Holding, its affiliates and a luxury residence belonging to the İpek family seized by the Turkish government in 2015 over their links to the faith-based Gülen movement, have been transferred to the Turkey Wealth Fund (TVF), the private IHA news agency reported.

Koza-İpek Holding was owned by Akın İpek, a businessman living in exile in the UK whose assets in Turkey were seized by the government as part of an ongoing crackdown on the Gülen movement and its followers.

Ankara accuses the Gülen movement, inspired by the views of the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, of masterminding a failed coup in July 2016. The movement strongly denies any involvement in it.

Following the failed coup, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government launched a massive purge targeting real and alleged members of the movement under the pretext of an anti-coup fight.

The AKP designated the group as a terrorist organization before the coup and seized schools, universities, media outlets, companies and their buildings and the assets of individuals, corporations and organizations that were believed to have had ties to the movement.

More than 1,100 companies have been transferred to Turkey’s Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF), most of them following the failed coup. Journalists from confiscated newspapers and TV stations have been arrested, replaced and jailed.

Koza-İpek Holding, 11 affiliated companies and the luxury residence in Ankara’s Gölbaşı district used by the İpek family have been transferred to the TVF. These assets were previously under the management of the TMSF.

Two big Turkish flags were put up in front of the residence following its transfer to the TVF.

The transfer of the companies was made in line with a decree issued by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in August.  They are major companies such as Koza Altın, Koza Anadolu Metal and İpek Doğal Enerji, all of which are publicly listed on the Borsa Istanbul stock exchange.

The Velev news website reported claims suggesting that the residence used by the İpek family may be rented out, and the companies owned by Koza-İpek Holding, with an estimated market value exceeding $5 billion, could be sold at low prices to pro-government individuals and entities.

In late June, İpek’s two mansions, the “White Mansion” and “Brown Mansion,” which were transferred to the TMSF in 2016, were sold at auction.

Twenty-two luxury cars belonging to Koza İpek Holding, including Bentleys, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, were also sold after the holding’s transfer to the TMSF in 2016.

The transfer to the TVF marks a significant shift in the management of these assets, which have been under state control for nearly eight years. The TVF, which manages more than $300 billion in assets according to its 2022 report, is overseen by Erdoğan himself, who serves as its chairman. The fund was established in 2016 in the wake of the coup attempt, with the stated aim of consolidating state assets and making strategic investments.

Observers argue that the wealth fund lacks transparency and has been used to centralize economic power in the hands of Erdoğan’s administration. Critics point to the fund’s restricted audits and the lack of transparency surrounding its operations as major concerns.

Meanwhile, Melek İpek, the 78-year-old mother of Akın İpek, was detained and subsequently arrested in Ankara last month to begin serving a prison sentence for conviction of alleged links to the Gülen movement.

The decision against Melek İpek, who suffers from numerous health issues, was upheld by Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals in 2021. She was remanded to Ankara’s Sincan Prison to serve out the sentence.

President Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement since the corruption investigations of December 17-25, 2013, which implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan, his family members and his inner circle.

Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan designated the movement as a terrorist organization and began to target its members.

 A report last year titled “Persecutory Confiscation Amounting to Crimes Against Humanity: Case of the Gülen Group,” exposed the vast scale of property confiscations in Turkey targeting the movement, with an estimated value of $50 billion and affecting over 1.5 million individuals in what the authors call systematic and widespread violations of domestic and international law that amount to “crimes against humanity.”