Turkey's Koza Plummets as Police Break in After Takeover

The publicly listed companies owned by Turkey’s Koza-Ipek Holding plunged on the Istanbul stock market as police broke into the group’s Ankara headquarters and tear gassed protesters outside following a government seizure of management.

Gold miner Koza Altin Isletmeleri, energy explorer Ipek Dogal Enerji and miner Koza Anadolu Metal tumbled, erasing about 500 million liras ($170 million) in market value. A prosecutor appointed a trustee to manage the company while it’s under investigation on charges of financing the Fethullah Gulen religious movement. Gulen, a former ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was declared the leader of a terrorist organization following a 2013 corruption probe that Erdogan blamed on Gulen’s followers.

The operation against Koza-Ipek is the latest crackdown against companies and organizations linked to Gulen. Koza-Ipek has interests in fields including mining, energy, construction and media, according to its website. Its three publicly traded units had a combined market value of about $1.3 billion as of the close of trading in Istanbul on Tuesday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-27/turkey-s-koza-drops-as-police-break-in-after-government-takeover