Turkey's Yıldız Holding rejects alleged cooperation with FETÖ-linked group

Yıldız Holding Vice Chairman Ali Ülker has dismissed the claims of transferring money to Kaynak Holding, to which the court appointed trustees due to its alleged links with the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) terror group, which is responsible for the July 15 coup bid that targeted the democratically-elected government.

“First the Kaynak Holding officials and then the trustee proposed that we buy the shares of the holding; however, we acted with deliberation due to the suspicious situation that the holding was facing until the court decision," Ülker explained, during an exclusive interview with Yenişafak Daily.

“We are very sad to be mentioned in this case. Because we are a highly sensitive group that picks its employees very carefully; therefore, only a very small number of our employees face prosecution. The number of people who face prosecution was so small if you consider that we have 50,000 employees, including 35,000 in Turkey alone," he said.

“Our partnership with this Kaynak holding was not based on a big common asset. It was only on a small land," he added.

“Even the founder of Ülker Group, the deceased Sabri Ülker, was completely against trade being conducted under the guise of religion. The Ülker founder always said that religious people should not intervene in trade or politics," he said.

“Some parties accused us of taking the money out of Turkey by purchasing some foreign brands such as Godiva and United Biscuit. However, we made the acquisition by using our own sources, and because these two brands are successful enough, they could fund themselves," he described.

“The branding process of Ülker will gather speed as Ülker is conducting researches to determine how to become a brand in many other countries, even China, Japan, India and African countries," he said.

“The recent sale of 'Bizim Mutfak' sub brand to a Japanese firm proved that Ülker is reaching its targets," Ülker said.

Ülker said Turkey is not facing a negative situation, despite the happenings such as a coup bid of July 15 which was supposed to affect the economy badly.

“If any other country faced such things, then its economy would have been affected terribly. As President (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) highlighted, despite the retardation of Turkey's growth; it is a positive and surprising thing for Turkey not to experience anything negative," he commented.

“I am very positive about the near future of the Turkish economy. Because Turkey is now an active country that creates its own solutions.

Yıldız Holding is a Turkish conglomerate that mainly manufactures food products. The holding has 65 companies, including Godiva Chocolatier since 2007.