the Open Society, the foundation of billionaire George Soros, has decided to end its activities in Turkey due to the campaign of attacks was unleashed recently by the president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is accused of having financed the massive revolt of Gezi in the year 2013, one of the greatest acts of contestation to which it has faced the political islamist in its 15-year mandate. “Given the increase of unfounded accusations and speculations exaggerated in the media over the past few days, the Council of Administration maintains that it has made it impossible to continue with the activities of the foundation,” explains Open Society in a press release.
During a meeting with mayors last week, Erdogan said that following the protests of Gezi hid “the famous jewish Hungarian Soros”. “This man has a lot of money and spends it on paying people to get pieces of the countries”, the president said Turkish: “Your representative in Turkey also comes from a rich family and has supported this type of terrorist acts. But now he is in prison”. Referring to Osman Kavala, a well-known philanthropist Turkish and founder of the NGO Anadolu Kültür, who is in jail since more than a year ago yet have been specified the charges on which he was arrested. “The allegations that I made and I paid to have the events of Gezi are unfounded and I hope that the summary of imputation is presented as soon as possible to be able to demonstrate that not argue,” said Kavala, in a statement published on its website.
The daily pro-government Sabah published on Monday that, between 2011 and 2017, Open Society donated to Anadolu Kültür more than $ 13.5 million (12 million euros), of which one million was transferred in dates next to the vaunted revolt. But Open Society defends itself by claiming that all of your donations and accounts have been audited by the Directorate General of Foundations” that depends on the Turkish Government and that, in the past five Slot Oyunları years, has funded projects in the field of “equality, democratization, and civil rights” of 75 NGOS and 15 public institutions Turkish.
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Found an explosive in the house of the magnate George Soros foundation Soros left Hungary by the pressure of the Government of Orbán Orbán against Soros
Kavala, effectively, appears as a member of the Board of Directors of Open Society in Turkey. But among its officers there are also other famous persons as the academic Ayse Soysal or Binnaz Toprak (currently mp of the opposition), or the businessmen Ishak Alaton and Can Paker, this last son of Mehmet Barlas, one of the largest apologetas of Erdogan in the media turks. In fact, there was a time in which relations between Erdogan and the Open Society resembled a honeymoon. For this reason, the organization of Soros, who already financed projects in Turkey since 2001, it was decided in 2008 to establish itself as a foundation according to the strict laws of the Turkish governing this type of associations, all with the approval of the Executive islamist.
The charges against Soros are not new and are repeated in Turkey since 2013, but have re-emerged now with unusual virulence, in line with the new research against the environment of the protests of Gezi. On November 16, 14 academics and activists were detained: among them were several officers of Anadolu Kültür and one of the founders of Open Society in Turkey, Hakan Altinay. This Monday, have also been detained about two tens of trade unionists, political activists and activists of the scope of the left in various cities of Turkey, although it is unknown if they are related to those of the last week.
last may, the foundation Soros left Hungary before the pressure of the Government, ultra-conservative Viktor Orbán. Precisely in that country took its first steps in the Open Society in the nineties, created by this magnate of the investment banking to promote liberal democracy in countries former communists, but that has been extended by a good part of the globe.