Doğan Group rejects 'false reports, slander campaign'

The Doğan Group has released a statement rejecting reports that an "operation" has been conducted against Doğan Holding after its Ankara representative, Barbaros Muratoğlu, was detained in Ankara early on Dec. 1.

Muratoğlu's detention came after daily Akşam editor-in-chief Murat Kelkitlioğlu leveled a series of accusations claiming he was linked to the Gülen movement 10 days ago.

Below is the statement issued on behalf of the Doğan Group by its deputy chairman responsible for corporate communications, Ahter Kutadgu, condemning the "slander campaign":

"We have learned that an investigation has been opened into Barbaros Muratoğlu, who has served in various positions within our group for 28 years and has been Doğan Holding's Ankara representative for the last two years, earning our appreciation with his hard work. We do not have sufficient information about the nature and details of the investigation at this stage. We are closely following the process.

"We see that some media groups, taking advantage of this investigation, have reported false news that an operation has been staged against the Doğan Group. Our group, which paid a heavy price for being subjected to plots by the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ) in the past, primarily unfair tax penalties, has reported a number of the unlawful practices of elements of this organization in major cases with its publications. It is obvious that our group cannot have any relationship with such an illegal structure.

"Publications against our Ankara representative Barbaros Muratoğlu aim to become a defamation and distortion attempt against our group.

"The Doğan Group, which has existed for 58 years in business life and 40 years in the media sector, stands by our state...