London court says Turkish trustees have no claim on alleged Gülen-linked firm’s UK asset

LONDON - Reuters

London’s high court found Turkey had no rights over British assets that are part of the Koza İpek media and mining conglomerate, owned by Akın Ipek, whose businesses have been seized by the state.

Turkish authorities have taken control of hundreds of companies, including Istanbul-listed gold mining company Koza Altın, which was placed in receivership in October 2015, for alleged links to U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen.

Ankara accused Gülen’s network of followers of orchestrating an attempted coup in July and branded it a terrorist organization.

Following the court judgement handed down on Dec. 21, London-based İpek, said in an email to Reuters he was “very happy to see justice.”

A spokesman for Koza Altın’s trustees said the judgement was only interim, they was confident of their case and they anticipated further legal action.

They are seeking the removal of İpek, as a director of Koza Ltd, a British subsidiary set up in March 2014, and to prevent him from deciding what to do with some 60 million pounds ($73.77 million) of shareholders’ capital held by Koza Ltd.

Court documents seen by Reuters showed a judge in the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice found Turkish trustees had no authority over British-based assets. Turkish officials were not immediately available to comment.

The judge also ruled that the approximately 60 million pounds could be transferred to accounts managed by Hanson Asset Management, which could allow the British subsidiary to get a higher return on its capital.

Hanson Asset Management was not available for comment.