Azeri businessman Mubarism Mansimov Gurbanoğlu is one of the most well-known oligarch businessmen. It is possible to see him in the same photograph with various leaders, including Trump. Gurbanov changed his surname after becoming a Turkish citizen.
On the morning of March 16, 2020, he was arrested for being linked to the Gülen Community. It was surprising for everyone because Gurbanov had no link with the Gülen movement.
The Gülen movement is regarded as the most dangerous terrorist organization by the Erdoğan Regime. There is no country or regime other than Erdoğan that describes the Gulen Movement as a terrorist organization. In Turkey, being a member of the Gülen movement means to stay in prison for many years.
The assets of many businessmen were confiscated as part of the crackdown on Gulenists. The amount of seized assets has been over 10 billion euros.
According to the first information received, Gurbanov was also arrested for this reason. Gurbanov’s statement from his social media account during his detention also pointed out to this:
“Even the enemy would not make this dishonor you do… Look at yourself, your past and where your children are educated, rather than calling me FETÖ… As you know, I applied to the courts to defend my rights. Private and government companies will lose their legal battle. They see that this day is now close, they are becoming angrier and angrier. ”
The term “FETÖ” (Fethullahist Terrorist Organization) is a phrase used by Erdoğan for the Gülen Movement.
Gurbanov is the owner of the most luxurious yacht port in Turkey’s Aegean coast. He also owns the only authorized company in oil imports from Azerbaijan.
Gurbanov’s yacht port has recently been transferred to a former politician named Mehmet Ağar. Ağar and his family became the owner of an international port without paying any money.
Mehmet Ağar has been one of Turkey’s most feared names since the 90s. He was the Ministry of the Interior and led the war against the Kurds in the 90s. Ağar was a policeman before.
Ağar allegedly killed a large number of Kurdish businessmen and received high amounts of money from some of them.
A blacklist of the Kurdish businessmen with close ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was created, and those on the list started to be killed one by one.
The businessmen, whose names were on the list or not, were asked for money by blackmail. It was even claimed that İbrahim Tatlıses, the famous Kurdish singer, paid 10 million dollars to Mehmet Ağar to remove his name from the list. Ağar and Tatlıses denied this claim.
This method, which was used against the Kurds in the 90s, is now used against the Gülen movement.
The blackmail on businessmen whose name is on the blacklist is quite common. Numerous lawsuits have been filed about this topic. But the situation is different for higher businessmen.
For a long time, there was pressure on Gurbanov to give up his authority to import oil from Azerbaijan. SOCAR Energy, Azeri-Turkish partnership, wanted to get this authority, which brings billions of dollars to Gurbanov every year.
Gurbanov was trying to save the ultra-luxury yacht port from Mehmet Ağar, and also, he continued his judicial struggle against SOCAR.
At this stage, Gurbanov was arrested on charges of being a member of the Gülen movement. It means that the state can seize all of Gurbanov’s assets and rights.
There are close relations between SOCAR and the Erdoğan family. If the right to import oil passes to the state, it is no surprise to say that this right will be transferred to SOCAR.
Mehmet Ağar is still very strong in the police force. Erdoğan rules the judiciary. In the arrest of Gurbanov, the collaboration of Ağar and Erdoğan captures attention. It is the curiosity about how they will share the spoils.
