Re: Emre - task for Mon

Re: Emre - task for Mon


were you able to find the numbers for Ulker?
Would be ideal to have figures from the same year... this isn't the most fair representation since some are taken before the financial crisis and after. I'll try to ask Hakan from Tuskon if he has some more reliable figures
On May 10, 2010, at 4:26 AM, Emre Dogru wrote:

Here is total assets list. All data obtained from the latest annual report published by those conglomerates. For Gulenist conglomerates, you may want to inquire Hakan (Tuskon). As you know, there are many medium-size firms that support Gulen rather than big firms. So, I think it would be better to have an idea about what Tuskon and Musiad represent in terms of total asset that those guys currently hold. My comments about the graf is below.

Koc - $44.0 billion total assets in 2009
Sabanci - $65.7 billion total assets in 2008
Dogan - $6.1 billion total assets in 2009
Dogus - 24.6 billion total assets in 2008
Zorlu - $5.9 billion total assets in 2006
Calik - No annual report data (I recall that I called Calik once to ask
about this. They said they don't tell anything other than they publish
on the website.)

(Gulenist) Ihlas Holding: 0.7 billion total assets in 2009
Ulker -

For the graf that you wrote, I would suggest to caveat the language. First, I don't think that Forbes list is the correct reference point. It doesn't really tell a lot about who dominates the Turkish economy since it's about the total money that individuals hold. That's said, if the richest guy would buy a bank, probably he won't be at the top of the next list, but this would not reduce (maybe even increase) it's power in Turkish economy. Also, Husnu Ozyegin, for example, is the richest guy in Turkey according to the latest list of Forbes. Ozyegin is a businessman who is close to Erdogan.

Second, like it's written, it sounds like Koc and Dogan are "nationalist" and against AKP. I don't know why did you lump in Koc and Dogan. But Koc, as far as I've witnessed, doesn't have major political problems with AKP. Also, you should pay attention how you use the term "nationalist" because it doesn't mean the same thing as we talk in our discussions. Koc and Dogan is probably one of the most internationalist business groups in traditional sense. They support everything about the
EU, have strong relations with the US etc. And they are not less opportunist-minded than other conglomerates that you listed. Of course, none of Koc, Dogan, Sabanci, Dogus is happy with what AKP is. But they benefit from AKP's economy policy, foreign policy etc. Sabanci and Dogus also belong to this group, but especially after seeing what happened with Dogan and the tax fraud case, have taken on a more neutral stance toward the AKP out of their own business interest. How do
we know this? I don't know anything about this particular case.

Reva Bhalla wrote:

Hey Emre,

I have a favor. This is the graf describing the business sector in Turkey. Can you find out the net worth of each of these business conglomerates? They need to be in USD and pls specify the year for which you got the information.

Koc
Sabanci
Dogan
Dogus
Zorlu
Calik
Ulker
(any other big pro/AKP and Gulenist business conglomerates besides Ulker?)

In the Forbes list of wealthiest Turks, four names dominate: Sabanci Group, Koc, Dogan, Dogus Group, Zorlu Group and Calik Group. Koc and Dogan occupy the staunchly secular and nationalist niche of the business sector that sits at odds with the AKP*s Islamist-rooted vision. Sabanci and Dogus also belong to this group, but especially after seeing what happened with Dogan and the tax fraud case, have taken on a more neutral stance toward the AKP out of their own business interest. The Calik and Zorlu groups are far more opportunist-minded: they keep close political connections to the AKP to secure business contracts and tolerate the Gulen movement, but are not considered true believers in the Islamist agenda. Finally, the last category consists of business conglomerates that are both legitimately pro-AKP and Gulenist, such as the Ulker Group.

--
Emre Dogru

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