Koç-defender Boydak's firm target of gov't audits

Central Anatolian conglomerate Boydak Holding, a firm whose vice chairman of the board criticized the government over a raid on another company over the summer, is now facing a round of tax audits of its three subsidiaries.

Mustafa Boydak, also the chairman of the Kayseri Chamber of Industry (KAYSO), in July urged the government to refrain from pressuring elite companies, alluding to the government's tax probes into Koç Holding subsidiaries.

Boydak's July comments followed a raid on the Turkish Petroleum Refineries Corporation (TÜPRAŞ) after government inspectors found large-scale tax evasion last year in oil-distributing companies. TÜPRAŞ is a subsidiary of Koç Holding, Turkey's largest conglomerate. Analysts questioned the timing of the raid, as it came amid the wave of anti-government protests sparked by the Gezi Park movement this summer and followed stern warnings from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the conglomerate, which opened its hotel in Taksim to Gezi Park protesters escaping tear gas fired by police.

Erdoğan had said Gezi backers -- whom he often referred to as the “interest rate lobby” -- “will pay for their misdeeds.”

Another factor fueling speculation over the Boydak audits is that the holding works in close cooperation with the Hizmet movement, which has come under fire from pro-government circles amid a controversial plan to ban Turkey's prep schools, many of which are affiliated with the movement.

On Friday, Boydak told the Wall Street Journal's Turkish edition that the tax audit “is a routine procedure and has no links to current debates over Hizmet or earlier comments on Koç.”

Observers, however, say the audit could be a veiled warning from government to firms close to the Hizmet movement. Last week, Erdoğan referred to the Hizmet movement as the “other side.”

“That the prep schools can be closed by decree is causing unease in the business world, with everyone worrying about who might be next in line, or which industry may face closure going forward,” WSJ Turkey quoted Hizmet-affiliated Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) Chairman Rızanur Meral as saying on Thursday.

Boydak, one of the largest Turkish conglomerates, has 38 subsidiaries in eight different sectors.

Published on Today's Zaman, 29 November 2013, Friday