Turkish police on hunt for top businessman Kadooğlu on charges of planning murder over debt

Fevzi Kızılkoyun – ANKARA

Ankara police are on the hunt to find Tarkan Kadooğlu, a prominent businessman sought on allegations of planning and aiding the murder of another businessman.

The investigation file includes information that Ömer Faruk Ilıcan allegedly owed 5 million Turkish Liras ($1.2 million) to Kadooğlu, the chairman of Kadooğlu Holding, a member of the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD) and the head of the Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation (TÜRKONFED).

Ilıcan, the chairman of the company Kalegaz, was killed in an armed attack on March 21 in Ankara’s Çankaya district.

After analyzing security camera footage and taking around 100 people’s testimony regarding the murder, police reportedly identified two prime suspects.

Following the intelligence that the two suspects were hiding in the southern province of Gaziantep, police raided their addresses and caught one of them. The other suspect fled Turkey to Iraq through the Habur border gate.

The investigation was led into the direction of Kadooğlu due to information that the fugitive suspect was working in Kadooğlu Holding’s financial department.

The investigation file said Ilıcan had allegedly visited Kadooğlu at his Gaziantep-based office a week prior to the murder in relation to the debt.

On March 20, one day before the killing, Kadooğlu and two of his cousins, currently detained, reportedly came from Istanbul and Gaziantep to Ankara, where they met at a house belonging to a close family member.

In the light of the information that has surfaced in the investigation, a detention warrant has been issued for Kadooğlu and police are continuing work to find him. The authorities have also issued a travel ban for Kadooğlu.

Police are also reportedly looking for 20 other suspects regarding the investigation.

Meanwhile, the TÜRKONFED board of directors has issued a statement saying it is “following the judicial process.”

“With the understanding of the presumption of innocence, which is a universal legal principle, we are closely following the judicial process regarding TÜRKONFED chair Tarkan Kadooğlu. We believe the relevant process will be completed in line with the principles of the law,” it stated.