Turkish financial authorities said on Saturday they had seized more than 200 companies belonging to Turkey's controversial Uzan family in a bid to recover debts owed to them.
Turkey has accused leading members of the family, including patriarch Kemal Uzan, of involvement in a multi-billion-dollar bank fraud and is seeking their extradition from the United States, where Turkish media say they have gone into hiding.
The Savings and Deposits Insurance Fund (TMSF) said in a statement it was seizing the firms - whose interests range from cement to media - because the family had failed to repay an estimated 7.500 trillion lira ($5.7 billion) worth of debts.
"The operation launched today against the companies owned by the Uzan family, their relatives and managers is in accordance with Turkish banking law and aims to recoup public money," the TMSF statement said.
The state Anatolian news agency said the total number of companies involved was 219 and said the move was also aimed at preventing the Uzan family from syphoning off their assets.
CNN Turk television showed police guarding the entrance to the Istanbul headquarters of the Uzans' Star media group. Managers of the company were being prevented from entering the building, CNN said.
TRUSTEES APPOINTED: It said the TMSF had divided the Uzan companies seized into four categories - media, telecommunications, cement and finance - and had appointed trustees to manage each group.
Turkey's banking authorities began moving against the Uzans last summer, seizing their Imar Bank after declaring it a threat to national financial stability.
The Uzans have accused the government of trying to destroy them for political reasons. Cem Uzan, unconnected with the Imar Bank fraud probe, heads a right-wing political party.
Spokesmen for the Uzans have said any problems at Imar Bank were caused by the government's seizure of two Uzan-run power companies that had been major clients of the bank.
Last month, an Istanbul court held its first hearing in the trial of 25 defendants, including Kemal Uzan and his son Hakan, over the bank collapse. The trial will restart on February 17. The defendants could face up to 36 years in prison if found guilty.
The Uzans are also locked in a legal battle with US telecommunications equipment maker Motorola and Finland's Nokia over nearly $3 billion in loans to Telsim, the family's mobile phone operator.
Cem Uzan and his sister face 15-month jail terms in Britain for contempt of court for failing to testify on family assets.
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