We have not forgotten the sale of Türk Telekom and the Hariri family, we will not let them forget!
GUEST AUTHOR | Anıl Talat Eryontuk wrote for the Aegean of the Republic...
republic.com.tr
Monday, May 03, 2021, 16:28
In today's article, I wanted to examine the sales story of Türk Telekom, which has been under the carpet for a long time and almost never talked about in the written and visual media.
I would like to state very clearly that:
We have not forgotten the sale of 55 percent of Türk Telekom's shares to the Hariri family for 6.5 billion dollars in 2005, and we will not let them forget!
The sale of Telekom first came to the fore in 1993, when the DYP was in power. However, this sale of 40 billion dollars was blocked by the Constitutional Court. Years later, under AKP rule, in 2005, this time the sale took place.
Türk Telekom was sold to Oger, a partnership of the Lebanese Hariri family and the Saudis, for $6.5 billion.
First of all, I can't help but mention this. When 55 percent of Türk Telekom was sold to the Saudi-linked Lebanese Hariri family, it had no debt and had $2 billion in cash.
After the privatization tender, the corporate tax was reduced from 30 percent to 20 percent. For this reason, they inflicted a huge tax loss on the state.
After the transition to the Hariri family, Türk Telekom earned a net profit of 14 billion dollars between 2005 and 2015. By 2016, $12.6 billion in dividends were paid. Hariri's Oger company got $7 billion of that.
So what did Oger do?
He only paid the first payment of 1.4 billion dollars and the next 600 million installments of the privatization money.
He put a debt-free company in debt of $3.5 billion as of the end of 2016.
As if that wasn't enough, were the debts tied to foreign currency and variable interest? Oger was not satisfied with that.
With the sale, all state-owned communications networks and equipment were transferred to Oger for 21 years.
At the end of the contract, Oger would return the network and equipment usable and the company debt-free.
Oger sought money abroad to pay the privatization fee, but could not find it. Thereupon, Turkish banks lent Oger $4.75 billion.
In the end, Oger left Turkey, leaving billions of dollars in bad loans by deceiving both the state, the company he bought, and Turkish banks.
He dumped this debt on Türk Telekom and fled.
With Öger's declaration of bankruptcy in 2018, Telekom's shares fell from $12 billion to $3.3 billion.
It's not enough…
Between 2005 and 2018, Türk Telekom exported 90 percent of its profits abroad.
The state agency, the state budget, lost $8.7 billion.
In the balance sheet of 2019, it is seen that Türk Telekom owes 17.4 billion liras.
We do not know whether the 4.7 billion dollars loan he received from banks and which has not been repaid is in this debt.
So, as citizens, shouldn't we ask?
“Is it held accountable for the billions of dollars of profiteering that robbed Türk Telekom?” saying.
Not asked, of course.
Look, due to the pandemic, millions of our students continue their school activities with distance education over the internet.
Believe me, many families are having trouble with the internet.
Why?
Because; Because of the stake the AKP-backed Hariri family put in Türk Telekom.
Unfortunately we have the lowest internet speed in Europe because of this pile!
It's a shame, it's a sin.
The most important feature that distinguishes humans from other beings is their responsibility. Because man has willpower.
For this reason, it is the right of every citizen to hold accountable these people, who stole billions of dollars over Türk Telekom without paying a penny.
Every unasked question and every account is on our neck.
This is how you know…
KONUK YAZAR | Anıl Talat Eryontuk, Cumhuriyet'in Ege'si için yazdı...
www.cumhuriyet.com.tr
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I remember reading and likely posted in a different defence forum that Türk Telekom was also responsible for the laying of military communication cables and such. I'll update this posts should I find it again.