Boydak chairman, general manager arrested in Gülen-linked probe

KAYSERİ – Doğan News Agency

DHA Photo

Two senior executives of Boydak Holding have been arrested for allegedly financing the group of U.S.-based scholar Fethullah Gülen, a former government ally now considered the head of the supposed “Fethullahist Terror Organization” (FETÖ) that allegedly aims to topple the government. 

Police detained Memduh Boydak, the general manager of Boydak Holding, as well as the group’s chairman, Hacı Boydak, and board members Erol Boydak and Murat Bozdağ at 7:30 a.m. on March 4 in a morning raid on their houses. 

The executives were later brought before a local court in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri, which ordered the arrests of Memduh and Hacı Boydak on March 5. Murat Bozdağ was released by court pending trial. 

A group of supporters, including family and company employees, stood waiting outside the court to send off the arrested executives to a Kayseri prison. 

The executives’ brother Mustafa Boydak, who is also deputy chairman of Boydak Holding, addressed the reporters and explained the legal situation, while expressing gratitude to the group waiting outside the courthouse. 

“There are allegations about my arrested brothers, but we hoped they could be tried without arrest,” he said, adding that they believed the arrests were related to prior charity work. 

“We trust Turkish Justice. We will file the necessary legal objections,” Boydak said.

The company headquarters at the organized industrial site in Kayseri were searched, while the financial records and computer hard disks of the conglomerate, which is active in 12 sectors from furniture to cables, were seized by police in a morning raid on March 4.  

Memduh Boydak, also an executive board member of the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD), was previously detained in September 2015 in another Gülen-linked operation alongside 10 other people. The detainees included executives of a group of companies and university officials. 

Gülen has long been accused by leading Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmakers, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his inner circle of forming and heading a terrorist organization to topple the Turkish government through insiders at the police and other state institutions.

“Due to our trust in democracy and the supremacy of law, we believe the legal process will be completed as soon as possible and Mr. Boydak will return to his duties,” a statement from TÜSİAD said, while highlighting the importance of accountability. 

“No persons or individuals, including businesspeople, are exempt from audits or investigations,” it added.