Sunday, June 29, 2025
Nordic Monitor
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Extremism
  • Military
  • Terrorism and Crime
  • Intelligence
  • Foreign Policy
  • Contact Us
    • Give us a tip!
  • About Us
  • Home
  • Extremism
  • Military
  • Terrorism and Crime
  • Intelligence
  • Foreign Policy
  • Contact Us
    • Give us a tip!
  • About Us
No Result
View All Result
Nordic Monitor
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Extremism
  • Military
  • Terrorism and Crime
  • Intelligence
  • Foreign Policy
  • Contact Us
  • About Us

Turkish gov’t agency unlawfully ordered asset seizure of President Erdoğan’s critics

October 1, 2020
A A

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Nordic Monitor

 

Turkey’s Land Registry and Cadastre Directorate General bypassed the judiciary to seize the assets of critics of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a circular communiqué obtained by Nordic Monitor has revealed.

The document has confirmed that plundering the assets and properties of Erdoğan critics has become so blatant that not even a court order is sought to carry it out, and local agencies have conducted such activities in accordance with the instructions from Ankara.

A circular communiqué, dated October 4, 2016, from the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre (Tapu ve Kadastro Genel Müdürlüğü) ordered its branches across the country to block the transfer of properties belonging to alleged members of the Gülen/Hizmet movement, a group critical of the Turkish government, upon requests received from the Ministry of Finance, governors, district governors and the police.

The document, signed by then-Deputy Director General Gökhan Kanal, urged local branches to add notes into the online “Risk Notification and Inquiry Screen” about whom the finance ministry, governors, district governors and the police sent official reports to in order to block the transfer of their assets. The communiqué revealed that those activities were launched following requests from administrative authorities and bypassed the judicial process.

Following the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, the directorate general created the “Risk Notification and Inquiry Screen” in order to detect alleged members of the movement. While private properties were blocked in the Land Registry and Cadastre Information System (TAKBİS), premises belonging to universities, preparation courses, dormitories, schools, foundations and associations were transferred to the General Directorate of Foundations and the Treasury.

 

The two-page document by the Land Registry and Cadastre Directorate General:

 

Nordic Monitor previously reported on a circular from the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department (KOM) of the Turkish police ordering its local branches to swiftly confiscate those properties without awaiting a court order and then apply to a court to legalize the action. Turkish authorities consider Article 17 of Law No: 5549 Regarding the Prevention of Laundering Proceeds of a Crime as the legal basis for such actions.

“In cases where there is strong suspicion that the offenses of money laundering and financing of terrorism are committed, the assets may be seized in accordance with the procedure stipulated in Article 128 of Code of Criminal Procedure Law No. 5271. The public prosecutor may also make seizure decisions in urgent cases. A seizure carried out without a judicial decision shall be submitted for the approval of a judge on duty within 24 hours at the latest. The judge shall decide whether it will be approved or not in 24 hours at the latest. The decision of the public prosecutor’s office shall be invalid in the event of non-approval,” Article 17 states.

The article clearly states that a confiscation decision can only be given by a court, and only if there is a strong possibility that it may be too late if the arrival of a court order is awaited can a prosecutor impose a provisional seizure that must be taken to a court for review within the course of a day. However, transfer blocking, seizure and confiscation decisions included neither court orders nor prosecutor involvement.

 

Headquarters of the Land Registry and Cadastre Directorate General.

 

Critics of the Erdoğan government, especially members of the Gülen/Hizmet movement, have been facing surveillance, harassment, threats of death and abduction since 2014, when then-Prime Minister and now President Erdoğan decided to scapegoat the group for his own legal troubles. He accuses the movement of being behind corruption investigations in 2013 and a coup attempt in July 2016, allegations the movement denies.

The crackdown on the movement intensified in the aftermath of the coup attempt. The assets and wealth of individuals, corporations and organizations that were seen as affiliated with the movement were branded as war spoils open to plunder. The assets of Gülen-affiliated entities such as schools, universities, media outlets, companies and apartment buildings were confiscated or stolen by their new owners. Similar to Nazi Germany, their property was divided up among Erdoğan’s Islamists and their collaborators.

Turkey’s Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) has taken over 885 private companies including major conglomerates such as Boydak Holding, the Koza Ipek Group, Kaynak Holding, Naksan Holding, Suvari Co, Dumankaya, Akfa, Orkide and Sesli, valued at close to $11 billion. No figures are available verifying how much personal wealth and how many assets were seized through the Erdoğan government’s use of the partisan judiciary.

ShareTweet
Previous Post

Erdoğan critics living in Romania were included in bogus terrorism probe in Turkey

Next Post

Jihadist Turkish imam promotes Erdoğan’s militarised foreign policy agenda

Nordic Monitor

Nordic Monitor

[email protected]

Next Post
Jihadist Turkish imam promotes Erdoğan’s militarised foreign policy agenda

Jihadist Turkish imam promotes Erdoğan’s militarised foreign policy agenda

Turkey to compensate Iraq for stolen Kurdish oil in a scheme that enriched Erdogan’s family

Turkey suffers heavy losses as Iraq-Turkey pipeline remains shut amid corruption and diplomatic deadlock

June 27, 2025
US designated key operatives of IRGC Quds Force who work with Turkey’s intelligence chief

Israel kills Iranian Quds Force General Shahriyari once protected by Erdogan in Turkey

June 26, 2025
Top forensic expert jailed for identifying weapons sent to jihadists by Turkey’s intel agency

Turkish intelligence secretly shipped arms to ISIS terrorist group in Syria

June 25, 2025
Turkish President Erdogan’s operative in the US put on airline blacklist

Turkish President Erdogan’s operative in the US put on airline blacklist

June 23, 2025
Turkish intelligence knew of ISIS safe houses before Reina attack, yet took no action

Turkish intelligence knew of ISIS safe houses before Reina attack, yet took no action

June 18, 2025
Kazakh medical student’s life upended by Turkish intelligence over false allegations

Kazakh medical student’s life upended by Turkish intelligence over false allegations

June 16, 2025
Turkey’s aggressive spying activities on German soil continue, secret document reveals

Germany accuses Turkey of endangering public security, conducting covert operations targeting dissidents

June 13, 2025
Turkish spies who tortured victim kidnapped from Kosovo protected by judiciary

Turkish spies who tortured victim kidnapped from Kosovo protected by judiciary

June 12, 2025
Turkish spy agency MIT disrupts Christian lives amid false allegations

Turkish spy agency MIT disrupts Christian lives amid false allegations

June 11, 2025
Ankara cautious after Israel detains Turks on Gaza aid ship, avoids escalation with ‘secret’ trade partner

Ankara cautious after Israel detains Turks on Gaza aid ship, avoids escalation with ‘secret’ trade partner

June 10, 2025

Nordic Monitor

Nordic Monitor is a news web site and tracking site that is run by the Stockholm-based Nordic Research and Monitoring Network. It covers religious, ideological and ethnic extremist movements and radical groups, with a special focus on Turkey.

Tags

al-Qaeda Andrei Karlov China coup Cyprus Diyanet Egypt espionage Germany Greece Gülen Movement Hakan Fidan Hamas Hulusi Akar Ibrahim Kalın IHH Iran IRGC Quds Force ISIL ISIS Isis al-qaida Israel Libya Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu Milli İstihbarat Teşkilatı MIT Muslim Brotherhood NATO President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Profiling Qatar Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Russia SADAT spying Spying Activities Suleyman Soylu Sweden Syria Torture Turkey Turkish Intelligence Agency Turkish intelligence agency MIT Ukraine United States

Recent News

Turkey to compensate Iraq for stolen Kurdish oil in a scheme that enriched Erdogan’s family

Turkey suffers heavy losses as Iraq-Turkey pipeline remains shut amid corruption and diplomatic deadlock

June 27, 2025
US designated key operatives of IRGC Quds Force who work with Turkey’s intelligence chief

Israel kills Iranian Quds Force General Shahriyari once protected by Erdogan in Turkey

June 26, 2025
Top forensic expert jailed for identifying weapons sent to jihadists by Turkey’s intel agency

Turkish intelligence secretly shipped arms to ISIS terrorist group in Syria

June 25, 2025

Copyright © Nordic Research and Monitoring Network All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Extremism
  • Military
  • Terrorism and Crime
  • Intelligence
  • Foreign Policy
  • Contact Us
    • Give us a tip!
  • About Us

Copyright © Nordic Research and Monitoring Network All rights reserved.