ANKARA: The honorary chairman of Turkish conglomerate Dogan Holding was summoned on Wednesday to appear in court over accusations of fuel smuggling, a day after Turkey’s president criticized a story published in the group’s Hurriyet newspaper.
Aydin Dogan, 80, who founded and ran media-to-energy conglomerate until 2010, is a prominent figure in Turkey’s secular establishment and has had strained ties with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the ruling AK Party in the past.
His group has faced charges that it ran a fuel-smuggling ring a decade ago and Dogan and Isbank’s Ersin Ozince, 64, face up to 24-1/2 years in prison on charges of setting up a criminal gang, smuggling and fraud.
This is the first time, however, that Dogan has been summoned to court in the case, rather than being represented by his lawyer. Dogan and Ozince have denied any wrongdoing.
The Istanbul court ordered that Dogan be compelled to attend the next hearing in the case where 47 defendants are being tried, state-run Anadolu Agency said.
The group’s newspaper Hurriyet has come under fire for a Feb. 25 story saying the government had not sought the opinion of the army before lifting a ban on the headscarf in the military.
The headline was seen as implying discord between the army and government and was criticized by Erdogan on Tuesday, sending shares in Hurriyet and Dogan Holding tumbling.
The shares fell further on Wednesday with Dogan Holding down 4.2 percent and Hurriyet 1.4 percent lower.
The court case covers the 2001-2008 period when Dogan Holding and Isbank owned stakes in Petrol Ofisi, Turkey’s biggest chain of gas stations, now operated by Austria’s OMV. The retailer is accused of avoiding customs taxes.
Erdogan has repeatedly accused Dogan Holding of bias against the government, which the media organization denies.
Aydin Dogan has dismissed the oil smuggling case, saying it lacked reason and legal basis
Turkish media mogul in legal soup over fuel smuggling
Turkish media mogul in legal soup over fuel smuggling
Family of Palestinian-American shot dead by Israeli settler demand accountability
- Relatives say Abu Siyam was among about 30 residents from the village of Mukhmas who confronted armed settlers attempting to steal goats from the community
LONDON: The family of a 19-year-old Palestinian-American man reportedly shot dead by an Israeli settler in the occupied West Bank have demanded accountability, amid mounting scrutiny over a surge in settler violence and a lack of prosecutions.
Nasrallah Abu Siyam, a US citizen born in Philadelphia, was killed near the city of Ramallah on Wednesday, becoming at least the sixth American citizen to die in incidents involving Israeli settlers or soldiers in the territory in the past two years.
Relatives say Abu Siyam was among about 30 residents from the village of Mukhmas who confronted armed settlers attempting to steal goats from the community. Witnesses said that stones were thrown by both sides before settlers opened fire, wounding at least three villagers.
Abu Siyam was struck and later died of his injuries.
Abdulhamid Siyam, the victim’s cousin, said the killing reflected a wider pattern of impunity.
“A young man of 19 shot and killed in cold blood, and no responsibility,” he told the BBC. “Impunity completely.”
The US State Department said that it was aware of the death of a US citizen and was “carefully monitoring the situation,” while the Trump administration said that it stood ready to provide consular assistance.
The Israeli embassy in Washington said the incident was under review and that an operational inquiry “must be completed as soon as possible.”
A spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces said troops were deployed to the scene and used “riot dispersal means to restore order,” adding that no IDF gunfire was reported.
The military confirmed that the incident remained under review and said that a continued presence would be maintained in the area to prevent further unrest.
Palestinians and human rights organizations say such reviews rarely lead to criminal accountability, arguing that Israeli authorities routinely fail to prosecute settlers accused of violence.
A US embassy spokesperson later said that Washington “condemns this violence,” as international concern continues to grow over conditions in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinians and human rights groups say Israeli authorities routinely fail to investigate or prosecute settlers accused of violence against civilians.
Those concerns were echoed this week by the UN, which warned that Israel’s actions in the occupied West Bank may amount to ethnic cleansing.
A UN human rights office report on Thursday said that Israeli settlement expansion, settler attacks and military operations have increasingly displaced Palestinian communities, with dozens of villages reportedly emptied since the start of the Gaza war.
The report also criticized Israeli military tactics in the northern West Bank, saying that they resembled warfare and led to mass displacement, while noting abuses by Palestinian security forces, including the use of unnecessary lethal force and the intimidation of critics.
Neither Israel’s foreign ministry nor the Palestinian Authority has commented on the findings.
