Doğan said it expected the ruling on this demand, dating from early 2009, to set a precedent for a more recent demand for collateral over a separate record TL 4.8 billion ($3.3 billion) tax fine, which has raised concerns about Turkey's commitment to freedom of the press.
"The Council of State ... has ruled in favor of our company on suspending the execution [of the collateral demand]," Doğan Yayın said in a statement. It did not give details on the justification for the ruling. "The tax administration is expected to act in line with this decision of the Council of State on the other collateral demand to our company," it said.
Doğan Yayın, which controls half of the Turkish private media market, has accused the government of singling it out because of its critical coverage of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government. This is an accusation that the commission has been at least partially sympathetic to, saying it threatens freedom of the press in Turkey and could damage the country's EU accession bid. The government has accused Doğan newspapers and television stations of acting like an opposition party. There are concerns the fines could cripple the company.
Erdoğan, answering questions from reporters yesterday concerning charges made in the foreign press about the political motivation of the case, rejected the charges and said the portrayal was incorrect. “The foreign media have portrayed this as a tactic used by the current government to silence the media outlets it opposes,” said Erdoğan, insisting that the matter was a random check carried out by the relevant authorities. “Although I am not pleased with the condition, this is what the Finance Ministry does. We have never used these audits to pressure the media. I can honestly say there is freedom of the press in Turkey; people can freely write and speak.”
Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek, to whom the revenue and tax authorities ultimately report, lashed out against the press at the close of the Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank, saying, “This country is not a banana republic; there was no attempt to affect the process politically.”
The TL 915 million collateral demand is linked to a tax penalty imposed over alleged irregularities during Doğan Yayın's sale of a 25 percent ownership stake. to German publisher Axel Springer for 375 million euros ($475 million) in 2006.
