Yildiz Holding, the owner of McVitie's biscuits and Godiva chocolates, has hit out at claims made in an article printed in the New York Times.
The January 2nd article, Spurning Erdogan’s Vision, Turks Leave in Droves, Draining Money and Talent, by journalist Carlotta Gall, claimed that Turkish businesses, entrepreneurs and wealthy individuals are leaving the country 'in a way that indicates a broad and alarming loss of confidence in Mr. Erdogan’s vision'.
In reference to Yildiz in particular, the author claimed that the business 'rescheduled $7 billion of debt and sold shares of its Turkish biscuit maker, Ulker, to its London-based holding company, essentially transferring the family’s majority holding of Ulker out of reach of Turkish courts'.
'Inarguably Unacceptable'
In response to these claims, Yildiz Holding issued a statement saying that Gall's comments are 'inarguably unacceptable to us under any circumstance'.
The company said that the journalist is 'hereby disclosing false and untrue information by using our Company’s name', adding that it reserves its 'legal rights of recourse to seek legal damages and criminal sanctions'.
Describing the article as 'unfounded' and containing 'untrue allegations in relation to our company and our country', Yildiz Holding said that it is a '100 percent Turkish corporation with its headquarters in Turkey', and that it has 'great trust in its country and it’s Turkish economy since its inception and will continue to do so in the future'.
The company added that 'it is very natural for any company at the level of Yıldız Holding, operating in a geography with 4 billion population, to establish and/or acquire companies and factories in the Europa, Central Asia, Middle East, Far East and America, just as any other company which does business in many countries around the world'.
The New York Times did not print the response in full, but did make reference to it in an amended version of the article on its website.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
