Turkey hits businessmen with travel ban

Two top Turkish business lobby executives were barred from travelling abroad after being questioned for hours by a judge over remarks criticising the justice system, state media reported Thursday.

Orhan Turan, who heads the influential TUSIAD business and industry association, was taken to court by police several hours after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the lobby of trying to influence the judiciary.

Istanbul’s chief prosecutor said he was being investigated for “seeking to influence a fair trial” and “publicly spreading misleading information”.

Omer Aras, another top TUSIAD figure, was also taken by police to the same court to answer the same charges after being identified as under investigation on Friday.

After being questioned for hours, both were granted conditional release late on Wednesday but barred from leaving Turkey, Anadolu news agency said.

Both are leading businessman who travel frequently, with Aras the executive chairman of top Qatari bank QNB in Turkey.

A letter from the prosecutor said they had “spread false information regarding Turkey’s internal and external security in a manner likely to disrupt the peace… with the sole purpose of creating anxiety, fear or panic among the public”.

At issue are remarks made in speeches at TUSIAD’s annual general meeting last Thursday.

Turan said Turkey wouldn’t be able to address its problems without restoring the rule of law, noting the recent detentions of journalists, politicians and others for critical remarks, and the removal of elected opposition mayors.

“Behind these problems lies a loss of trust in the rule of law,” he said.

Aras made similar comments, also mentioning the probes into Istanbul’s opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu — Erdogan’s biggest political challenger — saying all these matters “created anxiety in society and shook trust”.

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‘Act like a business association’ 

In an X post on Tuesday, TUSIAD said Turkey could only ensure “lasting economic development with a state of law based on human rights and the principle of participatory democracy”.

On Wednesday, Erdogan fired a direct shot across TUSIAD’s bows.

“If you are a business association, you will learn to act like one. You will not provoke the nation, you will not provoke state institutions nor try to pressure the judiciary,” he said.

The move sparked a backlash, with opposition head and CHP leader Ozgur Ozel saying the government was “openly threatening our entire society by saying: ‘Anyone who criticises me or speaks out will be punished’,” in a post on X.

Emerging markets economist Timothy Ash posted footage on X of the pair being physically escorted by police, writing: “TUSIAD is respected as a counterparty by the international investment community, amongst others.”

This week, the government said 282 people had been detained on “terror” charges, among them were members of the pro-Kurdish DEM party, journalists and left-wing figures.