Turkish media has revealed what it called “new scandals” in the Turkish regime, linked to the corruption and bribery by the ruling family, specifically the family of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while his son Bilal has the lion’s share of it.
The local Cumhuriyet newspaper, has said that Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish President, granted tax exemptions to institutions and personalities that included his son, Bilal, along with other personalities close to him and his family. The newspaper has noted that Bilal Erdogan worked as a director of institutions classified as Tax exempt.
The exemptions also included, according to the newspaper, Berna Yılmaz, the wife of Mesut Yılmaz, the former Turkish Prime Minister.
In this context, the newspaper has referred to the addition of two institutions to the so-called “List of Tax-Exempt Institutions”, issued by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance.
The list included the Education without Barriers Foundation, which was run by Yilmaz’s wife, and the İnsan and İrfan Foundation, which was managed by Bilal Erdogan, and headed by Fatih Citlak, his wife’s uncle.
Cumhuriyet has confirmed that Erdogan granted tax exemptions to many institutions managed by his son, by a decision of the Ministers Council when he was prime minister, and by a presidential decision after he became president of the country. it also has pointed out that the recent update of the list of tax-exempt institutions raised the number of institutions affiliated with Bilal Erdogan to 7, and indicated that Erdogan granted tax exemptions to an institution run by his daughter, Sumaya, an institution concerned with education and culture.
It is noteworthy that Turkish and international newspapers have covered the wealth of Erdogan and his children several times.
An investigation published by Focus magazine revealed that the officially announced figure for the Turkish president’s wealth, at the beginning of July 2020, which was estimated at €2.5 million only, is not true. Focus also noted that the amount of wealth recorded on the papers is different from reality, as there are secret accounts in Swiss banks containing millions of euros by Erdogan’s acquisition of former Turkish state-owned companies, a common way to get money.
Focus said Erdogan’s actual wealth is distributed among his large family so that it does not appear, as Ahmet Burak Erdogan, owns the shipping company MB, and the size of its assets is estimated at 80 million euros.
To date, it has not been clarified how the 41-year-old can afford a large shipping company.
