The Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office has, armed with a local court order, seized three more companies as part of the ongoing crackdown linked to the arrest and jailing of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, local media reports suggested on March 25.

Of the companies, Trend Insaat and Nuhoglu Insaat are owned by Ali Nuhoglu, while Istcon Insaat is owned by Furkan Remzi Ceylan.

On March 20, the prosecutor’s office also seized the wealth of Murat Ongun, board chairman of Istanbul municipality’s Medya.

On March 23, Yusuf Ilbak, a member of the Ilbak family that owns Ilbak Holding, was arrested. Ilbak Holding chair Murat Ilbak along with board member Mustafa Ilbak and Ali Ilbak were also among 103 people in all that were detained.

So far, there is no information on the current legal status of the Ilbak family members and the Ilbak Holding companies.

Nothing to do with law

On March 19, bne Intellinews noted: “For those who’ve never tried to get to grips with Turkey till now, let’s perhaps confirm we’re talking about the country, not the bird, and stress that the detention of the mayor has nothing to do with the law.”

This publication has also been parroting for a long while: “Each time there is a notable arrest, or the seizure of a municipality or sizeable company, the media circulate some reasoning put out by officials, but in the final analysis, all such moves are quite obviously political and can be directly laid at [President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s door.”

On March 14, bne IntelliNews also noted: “In 2024, Akin Gurlek was appointed as chief public prosecutor in Istanbul. Journalists, who claim that Gurlek’s job is to conduct operations against Imamoglu, currently seen as a politician that could one day succeed Erdogan, are arrested.”

Business as usual

Since 2002, Turkey’s government has used the deposit insurance fund TMSF as a tool for wealth transfer.

As of March 12, TMSF had established management over 721 companies. Additionally, it controlled stakes in 73 companies as well as the personal assets of 93 real persons as of end-2024.

Three of the companies are currently on sale.

In July 2024, Fatin Rustu Karakas, head of the TMSF, said that TMSF had seized 1,371 companies over links to the Gulenist clan since their alleged military coup attempt on July 15, 2016.

Akin Ipek case

In 2024, TMSF sold a Bosporus mansion owned by Gulenist businessman Akin Ipek to Oyak Cimento (OYAKC) for a consideration of TRY 1.1bn ($34mn).

On March 24, Koza Altin (KOZAL) said that it would hold a tender to sell Akin Ipek’s other two Bosporus mansions.

In December, KOZAL acquired the mansions in question from Koza Ipek Holding for a consideration of Turkish lira (TRY) 908mn. It also acquired a land plot that has a building on it in Ankara for TRY 476mn.

In 2015, TMSF seized Akin Ipek’s Koza Ipek Group companies. In 2024, Turkey's sovereign wealth fund (TWF/TVF) took over the companies.

Also in 2024, KOZAL sold its 71% indirect stake in the Sam Alaska gold mine project in the US to local partner Great American Minerals Exploration Inc (GAME) for $45mn.

KOZAL is liquidating its UK unit to end ongoing legal cases. It said that it sold its Sam Alaska stake to avoid legal disputes.

The Imamoglu wave

In February, Turkey’s deposit insurance fund TMSF was appointed as a trustee at fast food chain Maydanoz Doner in relation to a prosecution aimed at Gulenists.

On March 25, local media reports suggested that the TMSF put some vehicles owned by Maydanoz Doner up for sale.

On March 14, the Istanbul chief public prosecutor's office seized a total 23 companies owned by Erkan Kork as part of a prosecution aimed at illegal sports betting.

Bankpozitif, a lender, and TV channel Flash TV along with fintech companies Payfix, Aypara (iPara) and Ininal are among the seized companies.

It seems that these companies were seized to prepare the public for the Imamoglu move. By equating the seizure of Imamoglu’s company under the scope of the seizures of the companies owned by  Gulenists and illegal sports betting gangs, the story actually serves the government’s goals too.

An ordinary Turk would assume (via the information that they are exposed to through the media) that Imamoglu’s companies are in the same pot as those of the Gulenists and the gangsters.

On March 19,  Imamoglu Insaat was also seized via a court order issued at the request of the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office.

Seizing of municipalities

Since the last local elections, held in March 2024, 13 municipalities have been seized by the government. Ten were held by the main Kurdish party DEM, while three were held by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).

(See the full list here.)

The government has also dismissed the CHP mayors of Besiktas, Beykoz and Beylikduzu districts in Istanbul along with Imamoglu. However, in relation to the arrests, it did not seize the municipalities concerned.

The district parliament in Besiktas elected a new mayor in line with Turkish laws. The Beykoz mayor was dismissed on March 4, but the interior ministry has not appointed a trustee. It looks like the Besiktas model will be followed there.

On March 26, the Istanbul and Beylikduzu parliaments were to elect new mayors.

In the new local government cycle, it is the seizing of CHP municipalities that has emerged as a new phenomenon.

Since January, bne IntelliNews has reiterated like clockwork that the real target in all of this is Imamoglu. And since February, this publication has been posing the question: “Will Erdogan jail Imamoglu?”