Doğan Holding executive detained for links to FETÖ

Police detained Barbaros Muratoğlu on Thursday, a senior executive for Doğan Holding for links to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) blamed for three coup attempts in three years spanning from 2013 to July 2016.

The detention of Muratoğlu, who serves as a representative of the Doğan Holding business conglomerate in the capital Ankara, comes after his photos with Fetullah Gülen, the fugitive leader of FETÖ, surfaced on media outlets.

A report in the Sabah newspaper claimed Muratoğlu was acting as an intermediary between Gülen and Aydın Doğan, the founder of the company who now retains a largely ceremonial post while his daughters run the business empire which includes the newspaper Hürriyet and the Turkish affiliate of CNN.

Photos circulating on the social media show Muratoğlu next to Fetullah Gülen at his U.S. residence in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania. Journalist Murat Kelkitlioğlu has claimed in a recent article that Muratoğlu had close ties with several senior Gülenists and sought help from judiciary members linked to FETÖ "to resolve the legal problems" of Doğan.

Additionally, he is claimed to have phone contacts with several fugitive cult members.

The chief prosecutor's office in Istanbul, where Doğan Holding is also based, has launched an investigation into the allegations and issued a detention warrant for Muratoğlu on charges of membership to a terrorist group and "working in the media interests of FETÖ."

Ahter Kutadgu, the Vice President of Doğan Holding in charge of Corporate Communications, said in a press statement they were aware of the investigation on Muratoğlu, "an accomplished colleague for 28 years" but they had no detailed information about the inquiry.

He denied allegations that the detentions were part of a larger operation against the company and bashed "false news" on the issue. The statement said Doğan Holding was the "victim of unfair tax fines in the past in cases plotted by FETÖ" and was "supportive of the state in its anti-terror fight."