IPI raises concernes over huge tax fine imposed on Turkey's Dogan
Güncelleme Tarihi:
A half-billion-dollars tax levy imposed on Turkey's largest media company Dogan Group raises concerns over possible efforts to silence the critic media, International Press Institute (IPI) and South East Europe Media Organization said late on Friday.
"Prime Minister (Tayyip) Erdogan has escalated his verbal attacks on Dogan’s newspapers for their reporting," IPI Director David Dadge said. Â
The Turkish Treasury imposed late on Tuesday a half-billion-dollar levy against the Dogan Media Group, parent company of Hurriyet, as the government effectively carries its war against the media to a new level. The group will take the issue to the court.
"He has called for his supporters to boycott Dogan and other newspapers, but this has not silenced them. The timing and unprecedented size of this tax fine raise serious concerns that the authorities are changing their approach from rhetoric to using the state apparatus to harass the media," he added.
The statement reminded that the imposition of the fine came shortly after Erdogan reiterated previous calls to boycott the media group’s newspapers.
In 2008, the prime minister clashed with Dogan’s media over reports about corruption allegations involving Erdogan’s political allies.
The order to Dogan Media Group to pay 826.3 million Turkish Liras, or $490 million, came to light this week in a filing by the company to the Istanbul Stock Exchange.
It results from alleged carriage of receipts from a 2006 sale, of a 25 percent share in Dogan TV to a German media group, into 2007 as a means to avoid taxation.