Dinç Bilgin
Dinç Bilgin (born 1940[1]) is a Turkish businessman who built up a media empire which was seized by the Turkish government in 2002 over alleged financial irregularities. He founded a number of newspapers including Sabah (1985) and Takvim (1994), and a number of television stations, including ATV (1993). He also founded the now-defunct Ateş and Yeni Yüzyıl in 1995, selling them to Korkmaz Yiğit in 1998.
Career
Bilgin began his career at Yeni Asır.[1] He founded a number of newspapers including Sabah (1985) and Takvim (1994), and a number of television stations, including ATV (1993). He also founded the now-defunct Ateş and Yeni Yüzyıl in 1995, selling them to Korkmaz Yiğit in 1998.[2]
Etibank was privatised on 2 March 1998 to Medya İpek Holding A.Ş.,[3] co-owned by Bilgin and Cavit Çağlar, for $155m.[4] The bank was sold to Bilgin's Medya Sabah Holding A.Ş. in 2000. It was taken over by the government's TMSF in October 2000.[3] In 2011 Bilgin was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for financial irregularities relating to his ownership of Etibank.[5]
References
- ^ a b Today's Zaman, 24 June 2012, Dinç Bilgin: The military would stage a coup again if they could
- ^ Hurriyet Daily News, 29 August 1998, Korkmaz Yigit Group buys Yeni Yuzyil and Ates newspapers
- ^ a b TBB, Historical Data about Closed Banks - tbb.org.tr
- ^ Turkish Daily News, 3 December 1997, This time, Cavit Caglar buys Etibank
- ^ Haberturk, 17 April 2011, Dinç Bilgin gets 4 years and 10 months behind bars for embezzlement!