Paradise Papers scandal involve relatives of Turkish cabinet members

​The children of Turkish Prime Minister and the brother of Energy Minister revealed to have offshore companies in Malta
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım (L), Energy Minister Berat Albayrak.
Wednesday, 08 November 2017 07:04

Paradise Papers, the recent leak of financial documents regarding the offshore financial affairs of several politicians and celebrities around the world, also exposed the relatives of Turkish cabinet members.

The children and relatives of Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım are revealed to have companies in Malta to benefit from lower tax rates on their profits and assets. The Prime Minister has issued a statement about this allegation and confirmed it, saying "There is nothing secret about it."

Yıldırım also added "I am a marine engineer myself and handed my business over to my children when I started my career in politics. We separated our line of work with our children. I advised my children never to engage in business with the state, never to use the resources of state-owned banks. Maritime business is a global issue. The people are trying to create an illusion that my sons are engaged in secret business."

Serhat Albayrak is another name exposed in Paradise Papers to have an offshore company in Malta. Serhat Albayrak is the brother of Berat Albayrak, Turkish Energy Minister and son-in-law of President Erdoğan. According to Paradise Papers, Serhat Albayrak is one of the managers of Frocks International Trading along with other Çalık Holding administrative staff, Mehmet Gökdemir, Murat Tarı and Şafak Karaaslan.

Frocks International Trading was founded in 2003, remaining active until 2009. The foundation certificate of the company shows that the Frocks International had been in the textile works. According to the information Çalık Holding gave to the local media Cumhuriyet, Frocks International was founded for trade with the third party countries. Although GAP Marketing is the affiliated company of Çalık Holding in international textile sales, the name of Frocks International was addressed nowhere in the company's documents regarding its textile import. This fact reinforces the possibility that Frocks International was purposefully hidden from the accounts.