ISTANBUL (Reuters) - George Soros’s Open Society Foundation said on Monday it would cease operations in Turkey, days after President Tayyip Erdogan accused the billionaire philanthropist of trying to divide and destroy nations.

FILE PHOTO: Business magnate George Soros arrives to speak at the Open Russia Club in London, Britain June 20, 2016. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor/File Photo

The organization said it was no longer possible to work in Turkey after it became the target of “baseless claims” in the media and a renewed investigation by Turkish authorities into mass protests against Erdogan’s government five years ago.

It said the Turkish Interior Ministry was renewing attempts to prove that the Soros foundation was behind the 2013 Gezi Park protests, one of the biggest political challenges to Erdogan’s 15-year rule. The foundation denied any link to the protests.

Erdogan denounced Soros last week while speaking of the detention of 13 activists and academics accused of supporting attempts by jailed businessman and rights advocate Osman Kavala to revive the Gezi protests.

“The person (Kavala) who financed terrorists during the Gezi incidents is already in prison,” Erdogan told a meeting of local administrators on Wednesday.

“And who is behind him? The famous Hungarian Jew Soros. This is a man who assigns people to divide nations and shatter them. He has so much money and he spends it this way.”

One of the 13 people detained on Nov. 16 was Hakin Altinay, who helped establish the Open Society Foundation in Turkey. Others were staff members of Kavala’s Anadolu Kultur center, which campaigns for human rights and cultural diversity.

All but one of the detainees were later released, but not before the European Union and United States expressed concern about their cases.

Ankara’s Western allies have repeatedly criticized the arrest of tens of thousands of people since a failed military coup in Turkey in July 2016.

MONEY TRANSFERS

Kavala, in detention for more than a year, said on Monday in a statement posted on his website that he was still waiting for an indictment to be prepared so that he could prove that the claims he had helped to direct and finance the Gezi protests and wanted to overthrow the government were “unfounded”.

The pro-government Sabah newspaper, citing reports from financial crime investigators, said on Monday the Open Society Foundation had made financial transfers to Kavala’s organization to support the spread of the Gezi protests nationwide.

It said nearly 1.9 million lira had been transferred between August 2011 and April 2017.

The foundation said it informed the Turkish authorities every year about which institutions and projects had received donations, and the authorities had approved them.

“However, with the new investigations that have been opened, it is seen that there is an effort to link the Open Society Foundation to the Gezi incidents in 2013. These efforts are not new and they are outside reality,” it said.

The foundation said it would apply for the legal liquidation and winding up of the company’s operations as soon as possible.

“The increase of baseless claims and disproportionate speculation in the media in recent days has made it impossible for the foundation to continue its operations.”

Soros, a U.S.-based financier and philanthropist, and his Open Society Foundation have also come under fire in Hungary. Prime Minister Viktor Orban accuses Soros and the liberal causes he backs of trying to undermine Europe’s Christian culture by promoting mass migration, a charge the financier denies.</s>George Soros’s Open Society Foundations group has said it will cease operations in Turkey, days after the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, accused the billionaire philanthropist of trying to divide and destroy nations, the Guardian reports.



The organisation said it had been the target of baseless claims in the Turkish media that made it impossible for it to continue its work.



It also faced an investigation by the interior ministry that sought to demonstrate a link, which it denied, between the foundation and protests at Gezi Park in Istanbul in 2013.



One of its founders in Turkey, Hakan Altinay, was among 13 people detained 10 days ago. They were accused of supporting jailed rights activist Osman Kavala in trying to overthrow the government through mass protests.



In a speech last week, Erdogan linked those arrests to Soros. “The person [Kavala] who financed terrorists during the Gezi incidents is already in prison,” he told a meeting of local administrators.

“And who is behind him? The famous Hungarian Jew Soros. This is a man who assigns people to divide nations and shatter them. He has so much money and he spends it this way.“



The foundation said that “new investigations” were trying to link it to the Gezi protests. “These efforts are not new and they are outside reality,” it said



The foundation said it would apply for the legal liquidation of its operations as soon as possible.</s>Billionaire George Soros' Open Society Foundation said Monday it has decided to cease operations in Turkey, saying "baseless claims" in the media "made it impossible" for the foundation to carry out its work.

It also said recent investigations by the Interior Ministry had attempted to show a link, which the foundation denied, to mass protests in Turkey five years ago.

The foundation said it would apply for the legal liquidation and winding up of the company's operations as soon as possible.

Last week, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan slammed Soros for supporting Osman Kavala, a former business tycoon who is in prison awaiting trial on charges of inciting the 2013 Gezi Park riots.

"The person (Kavala), who financed terrorists during the Gezi incidents, is currently in prison. And who is behind him? The famous Hungarian Jew George Soros. This is a man who was assigned to divide nations and shatter them. He has so much money and he is spending it in these ways," Erdoğan said.

Kavala was nicknamed the "Turkish Soros" for his connections with the Hungarian-American tycoon. He is known for his close ties to the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), a party linked to the PKK terrorist group.

Over a dozen people linked to Kavala, including Open Society Foundation Chairman Ali Hakan Altınay, were detained on Nov. 16 on charges of trying to spread the 2013 riots and "creating chaos with the ultimate intent to overthrow the government."

Turkish National Police issued a statement at the time of the arrests saying Kavala sought to overthrow the government by force through the Gezi Park incidents and used the Open Society and Anadolu Kültür to finance and organize the riots. Suspects "under a hierarchy" held meetings and brought in activists from abroad to stoke riots, police sources said.

On May 31, 2013, Turkish police intervened in what began as a peaceful protest against the redevelopment of Gezi Park adjacent to Taksim Square at the heart of Istanbul. What followed were nationwide riots that led to over 20 deaths, the torching of cars and destruction of public property in a matter of a few days.

Responsibility for the riots has been linked to the PKK and the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), along with fridge factions linked to them. Turkish authorities are also investigating the fact that Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ)-linked police officers headed crowd control operations and may have been responsible for the escalation of violence.

The Open Society Foundations was founded by Soros in 1979. The grant-making network operates in more than 100 countries, with 26 national and regional offices, and lists annual expenditures exceeding $940 million.</s>Open Society Foundations, the philanthropic group founded by George Soros, announced Monday that it would stop its operations in Turkey, where the organization and its founder have been assailed by an increasingly authoritarian government.

The organization, which promotes justice and human rights in more than 100 countries, said that it would close its office in Istanbul after it became the target of “baseless” accusations that made it impossible to work in the country.

The Turkish government has tried to link Open Society to the Gezi Park protests of 2013; the organization has denied any role and dismissed the allegation as unfounded. One of the organization’s board members, Osman Kavala, was arrested and has been in jail for over a year without being formally charged, the organization said.

“We are deeply dismayed and disappointed that the foundation had to close,” an Open Society spokeswoman, Laura Silber, said on Monday. But, she said, “it became completely untenable.”</s>Open Society Foundations, the philanthropic group founded by George Soros, announced Monday that it would stop its operations in Turkey, where the organization and its founder have been assailed by an increasingly authoritarian government.

The organization, which promotes democracy and human rights in more than 100 countries, said it would close its office in Istanbul after it became the target of “baseless” accusations that made it impossible to work in the country.

The Turkish government has tried to link Open Society to the Gezi Park protests of 2013; the organization has denied any role and dismissed the allegation as unfounded. One of the organization’s board members, Osman Kavala, was arrested and has been in jail for more than a year without being formally charged, the organization said.

“We are deeply dismayed and disappointed that the foundation had to close,” an Open Society spokeswoman, Laura Silber, said Monday. But, she said, “it became completely untenable.”

The announcement came days after the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, denounced Soros in a speech, Reuters reported. Erdogan accused Kavala, one of Turkey’s most prominent businessmen and civil society activists, of financing terrorists during the Gezi protests and accused Soros of supporting him.

“And who is behind him?” Erdogan said, according to the report. “The famous Hungarian Jew Soros. This is a man who assigns people to divide nations and shatter them. He has so much money and he spends it this way.”

It was the latest in a series of attacks against Soros, a Hungarian-born Jewish billionaire and a major Democratic donor who has been under siege on both sides of the Atlantic.

In the United States, conservative groups often paint him as a villain. He was among several critics of President Donald Trump who were sent explosive devices leading up to the midterm elections. Some have speculated — falsely — that he financed a caravan of migrants moving north in Mexico and, last week, Facebook acknowledged that it had hired a lobbying company that pushed negative stories about Facebook’s critics, including Soros.

In Europe, he has been a target of government leaders. The organization ceased operations in Hungary, the country of Soros’ birth, in May amid political and legal pressure from Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has long used Soros as a foil, often using anti-Semitic tropes. Orban has been the chief architect behind a campaign of misrepresentations and falsehoods aimed at Soros, even Photoshopping him into campaign posters with opposition candidates during the country’s spring elections.

In that case, Open Society said it would move its operations to Berlin.

Silber, the Open Society spokeswoman, said the organization was unsure whether it would be able to continue to do work in Turkey after the closing of its Istanbul office but hoped to be able to continue working with Turkish citizens.

“We are in a time of rising authoritarianism and closing space on civil society,” Silber said. “This is not about the Open Society Foundations. This is a much bigger battle at play — the battle against free expression, against human rights and justice.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times</s>ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Foundation said on Monday it has decided to cease operations in Turkey, saying ‘baseless claims’ in the media made it impossible for the foundation to carry out its work.

It also said recent investigations by the Interior Ministry had attempted to show a link, which the foundation denied, to mass protests in Turkey five years ago.

The foundation said it would apply for the legal liquidation and winding up of the company’s operations as soon as possible.</s>George Soros's Open Society Foundation said on Monday it would cease operations in Turkey, days after President Tayyip Erdogan accused the billionaire philanthropist of trying to divide and destroy nations.The foundation said it had been the target of "baseless claims" in the Turkish media, which made it impossible for it to continue its work.It also faced an investigation by the Interior Ministry which sought to demonstrate a link, which it denied, between the foundation and protests at Istanbul's Gezi Park in 2013.One of its founders in Turkey, Hakan Altinay, was among 13 people detained 10 days ago.In a speech last week, Erdogan linked those arrests to Soros. "The person (Kavala) who financed terrorists during the Gezi incidents, is already in prison," he told a meeting of local administrators."And who is behind him? The famous Hungarian Jew Soros. This is a man who assigns people to divide nations and shatter them. He has so much money and he spends it this way."The foundation said that "new investigations" were trying to link it to the Gezi protests five years ago. "These efforts are not new and they are outside reality," it saidThe foundation said it would apply for the legal liquidation and winding up of the company's operations as soon as possible.</s>Leftist billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Foundations announced on Nov. 26 that it would cease operations in Turkey.

The foundation said “baseless claims” in the media “made it impossible” for it to carry out its work in Turkey.

Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed Soros for allegedly supporting Osman Kavala, a former business tycoon who is in prison awaiting trial on charges of inciting the 2013 Gezi Park riots which over the course of a few days resulted in 20 deaths, the torching of cars and destruction of public property.

“The person (Kavala), who financed terrorists during the Gezi incidents, is currently in prison. And who is behind him? The famous Hungarian Jew George Soros. This is a man who was assigned to divide nations and shatter them. He has so much money and he is spending it in these ways,” Erdogan said.

Over a dozen people linked to Kavala, including Open Society Foundations Chairman Ali Hakan Altınay, were detained on Nov. 16 on charges of trying to spread the 2013 riots and “creating chaos with the ultimate intent to overthrow the government,” according to a report by the Daily Sabah.

Turkish National Police issued a statement at the time of the arrests saying Kavala sought to overthrow the government by force through the Gezi Park riots and used the Open Society and Anadolu Kultur to finance and organize the riots.

The Open Society Foundations was founded by Soros in 1979. The grant-making network operates in more than 100 countries, with 26 national and regional offices, and lists annual expenditures exceeding $940 million.

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Login To Your FaceBook to Make Comments</s>Liberal billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundations NGO will close up shop in Turkey, saying “groundless claims and speculation” have hindered its work.

The organization announced the news on Monday, days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Soros of stoking protests to divide the country, referring to the elderly liberal financier as that “famous Hungarian Jew Soros.”

Erdogan accused Soros of controlling Turkish opposition figure Osman Kavala, himself accused of financing and organizing anti-government demonstrations in 2013, and being linked to a failed coup attempt in 2016.

Over a dozen people linked to Kavala were arrested last week, as Erdogan’s crackdown on anyone suspected of involvement with the coup continues.</s>ANKARA, TURKEY—The Open Society Foundations, which is funded by George Soros, is pulling out of Turkey days after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the billionaire philanthropist of attempting to destabilize his country.

The foundation, which has backed projects to improve education, women’s rights and encourages democratic reforms, said “baseless” accusations had made it impossible for it to continue operating in Turkey.
George Soros' Open Society Foundations says it will cease operations in Turkey, stating that "baseless claims" in the media and a government investigation into its alleged role in the Gezi Park protests make its work impossible.