Doğan Holding executives released with a travel ban

ISTANBUL

Doğan Holding Chief Legal Advisor Erem Turgut Yücel and the holding’s former executive Yahya Üzdiyen, who were detained as a part of an investigation into the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), were released on Jan. 13 with a ban on travelling abroad.

Yücel and Üzdiyen were detained on Jan. 5 as a part of an investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office’s Terror and Organized Crime Bureau. Doğan Group Ankara Administrative Representative Barbaros Muratoğlu was also arrested in the same investigation. 

Yücel and Üzdiyen were brought to the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan and were referred to court, which ruled for them to be released. However, as part of the judicial control measures, they were banned from travelling abroad. 

Muratoğlu was detained on Dec. 1, 2016 over allegedly “helping a terrorist organization” and he was arrested on Dec. 15, 2016. Yücel and Üzdiyen were detained as a part of the same investigation with new evidence. 

The Doğan Group’s deputy chairman responsible for corporate communications, Ahter Kutadgu, recently said that linking the Doğan Group to FETÖ, the suspected network behind the failed July 2016 coup attempt, is “out of reason and conscience.”

“We believe our friends have not committed any acts against laws and regulations. We expect that justice will be manifested as soon as possible. Linking the Doğan Group to FETÖ is out of reason and conscience,” Kutadgu stated.