Turkey’s Dogan says allegations reported in media unfounded

ISTANBUL: Allegations reported in Turkish media accusing the founder of conglomerate Dogan Holding of involvement in a fuel-smuggling ring are "unfounded", the Dogan group said on Thursday in a statement issued on its Hurriyet news website.

Several newspapers close to the government said a prosecutor was seeking a 23-year jail sentence for Aydin Dogan, whose holding owns Turkey’s largest media group, including Hurriyet.

The allegations date back to when Dogan Holding and Isbank, the country’s biggest listed lender, were stakeholders in fuel distributor Petrol Ofisi, prior to its acquisition by Austrian company OMV in 2010.