Linking Doğan Group to FETÖ ‘out of reason, conscience’, Doğan executive says
ISTANBUL
Linking Doğan Group to the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), the suspected network behind the July 15 foiled coup attempt, is out of reason and conscience, Doğan Group’s deputy chairman responsible for corporate communications, Ahter Kutadgu, has said, commenting on the detentions of Doğan Holding Chief Legal Advisor Erem Turgut Yücel and the holding’s former executive Yahya Üzdiyen.“We believe that our friends have not committed any acts against laws and regulations. We expect that justice will be manifested as soon as possible. Linking Doğan Group to FETÖ is out of reason and conscience,” Kutadgu said.
Below are his responses to questions directed at him:
Recently, in some newspapers and TV channels, there have been accusations claiming that the probe into Doğan Holding had deepened. What are your thoughts on this?
We are very sad and uncomfortable when seeing these news and comments. It makes us even sadder being exposed to such baseless accusations, especially in an environment where our country has been struggling against terror from all sides and in an environment where we have been giving away hundreds of martyrs. I think they are trying to influence the judiciary. The accusations and allegations regarding Doğan Group Ankara Administrative Representative Barbaros Muratoğlu, who has been arrested recently, and our friends Üzdiyen and Yücel are open injustices, according to us.
Why is that so?
The ground for the allegations is that they met FETÖ-affiliated lawyers and gave them warrant of attorney. They’ve been accused of trying to influence the judiciary. Now, let’s reply to all of them one by one.
We leased our contracts for consultancy services in 2012 to these lawyers, whose FETÖ links surfaced only after July 15, 2016. We work with hundreds of lawyers. These people are registered with bars and hold lawyer licenses. There were no stains or allegations regarding these lawyers during that period. They have openly performed their professions. We were only provided legal opinions and services. Besides, there was no concept of FETÖ’s legal structure in 2012. There was no notion of “FETÖ” at that time.
Some of these hundreds of lawyers that we worked with during this period are now being tried over FETÖ membership. It’s true that we received services from these lawyers. Our relations with the aforementioned lawyers ended in 2014. The cases that were followed by these lawyers are continuing and are being followed by our other lawyers. That’s why the allegations that we influenced or tried to influence the judiciary through these lawyers who were arrested over being FETÖ members are absolutely absurd.
Now I’m asking: We have worked with these lawyers between 2012 and 2014. Who has and which institutions have also worked with these lawyers in the same period? Are all of them being followed, which one of them have been detained? Or is it just our friends? It’s impossible to understand this.
What is your expectation from the current situation?
Doğan Group is one of the most, well-rooted institutions in our country with a history of 60 years. We certainly believe that the public acknowledges that linking such an established group to FETÖ is out of reason and conscience. We believe that our friends have committed no acts or procedures against laws and regulations. Our friends and their families are suffering. They have faced great victimization. We, as both the Doğan family and Doğan Group, with more than 15,000 employees, are in deep sorrow. We expect that justice will be manifested as soon as possible. We worry that such disarraying FETÖ cases might affect the persuasiveness of our state’s struggle inside the country and abroad. Because we believe that those responsible should be punished with the sentences they deserve. We have supported our state’s struggle against the FETÖ structure and are still doing so. Accusing us of FETÖ membership is a really extremely heavy allegation that is out of reason and conscience.
