Turkey’s state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) has announced the sale of Maydonoz Döner, one of the country’s largest fast-food chains, for a base price of 2.8 billion Turkish lira (about $68 million), continuing a controversial policy of liquidating companies seized over alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, Turkish Minute reported.
The charges stem from an investigation that was made public through a police operation in February and continued in May and June with a new wave of detentions, targeting people allegedly using the Maydonoz Döner chain to finance the Gülen movement, inspired by the views of the late Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since corruption investigations revealed in 2013 implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan and some members of his family and inner circle.
Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and a conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan began to target the movement’s members. He designated the movement as a terrorist organization in May 2016 and intensified the crackdown on it following the abortive putsch in July of the same year that he accused Gülen of masterminding. The movement strongly denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
The tender, published Friday in the Official Gazette, covers the “Maydonoz Döner Group Commercial and Economic Integrity,” which includes 390 Maydonoz Döner restaurants across Turkey as well as the My Fried Chicken franchise brand. Assets of several related firms — Somca Gıda, Altı G Gıda, Sümer Entegre Et, Enerca Gıda and Deta Ambalaj — are being sold together as one package.
Interested buyers must deposit 280.1 million lira to take part in the bidding. The process will begin with sealed offers, followed by an auction among shortlisted candidates. If necessary, the TMSF said it may also hold negotiations before finalizing the sale.
Maydonoz Döner, founded in 2018 by businessman Ömer Şeyhin, rapidly grew into a nationwide fast-food brand with hundreds of outlets in Turkey and abroad.
The move comes amid a broader sell-off of assets confiscated from business groups accused of ties to the Gülen movement.
Since 2016, Turkish authorities have seized hundreds of companies across multiple sectors, from furniture to energy. According to official figures cited by state media in July, 784 companies with assets worth 42.3 billion lira (around $14 billion at 2016 exchange rates) have been transferred to TMSF trusteeship.
The TMSF has previously sold major assets owned by Boydak Holding seized over alleged Gülen links, including the furniture giant Bellona for 8.1 billion lira in June, and plans to auction İstikbal Mobilya, another popular furniture brand, for 12.5 billion lira on September 30. Rights groups argue the asset seizures amount to politically motivated expropriations targeting opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government.