PM Yıldırım must respond to Paradise Papers claims about offshore family companies: CHP

ANKARA

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım must respond to allegations in the “Paradise Papers,” leaked on Nov. 5, that eight companies affiliated with his family are located in the offshore tax haven of Malta, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Faik Öztrak said on Nov. 6.

“The prime minister, who recently brought a new budget law to parliament to collect 614 billion Turkish Liras in duties in 2018 from the public, should urgently make a statement to the public regarding claims about his relatives’ offshore companies,” Öztrak tweeted.

According to papers published and reported by German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, in cooperation with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), in which Turkish daily Cumhuriyet is a media partner, there are a total of eight Malta-based companies affiliated with Yıldırım’s sons, uncles and nephews.

The Paradise Papers stated that the Turkish prime minister’s sons, Erkam Yıldırım and Bülent Yıldırım, have a total of five companies based on the low-tax Mediterranean island.

One of the companies, Black Eagle Marine Co Ltd, was founded on Oct. 7, 2007, involved in the buying and selling of sea vessels and providing credit to third parties, the papers revealed, Cumhuriyet reported.

Another one, Hawke Bay Marine Co Ltd. was founded on April 1, 2004 and remained active until April 2007, engaging in the same activities as Black Eagle Marine Co Ltd.

Erkam Yıldırım is also reportedly associated with three other companies through the South Seas Shipping company, which is a shareholder in Hawke Bay Marine Co Ltd and Black Eagle Marine Co Ltd.

The revelations about the Turkish prime minister are just a small part of a trove of around 13.4 million leaked offshore investment documents, dubbed the “Paradise Papers,” exposing the hidden banking activities of some of the world’s wealthiest people and published on Nov. 5.