Demirören Group
In March 2018, the Demirören Group purchased all the media assets of the Doğan Group for $ 916 million. Demirören Group was the owner of the Milliyet newspaper and Vatan newspaper. After purchasing the media assets of Doğan Group, the Group now owns 5 newspapers, including Hürriyet, Hürriyet Daily News, Posta and Fanatik; it has a news agency (DHA), a distribution company (YAYSAT), two TV channels (Kanal D and CNNTURK). The Vatan daily was closed on October 31, 2018 and continues publishing digitally as gazetevatan.com.
Demirören Group A.Ş.'s capital is 592 million Turkish Liras. Its shares entirely are owned by the Demirören Family, which openly supports the ruling AKP and has close ties with President Tayyip Erdoğan. Demirören family is active in sectors such as media, energy, mining and construction.
The recordings of alleged phone conversations between Erdoğan Demirören and then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were leaked in May 2014, in which the Prime Minister scolds Demirören for a news story, asking for those responsible to be fired, and Demirören is heard crying.
Erdoğan Demirören was the majority shareholder of the conglomerate 'Demirören Holding A.Ş.'until he died on June 8, 2018. After his death, his son Yıldırım Demirören was elected as chairperson of executive board at Demirören Holding.
Demirören Group has shut down Yaysat (the Publication Company of Demirören) on October 31, 2018.
Yelda Demirören, the daughter of Yıldırım Demirören, the Chair of the Board of Directors of Demirören Holding, and Haluk Kalyoncu (the son of Hasan Kalyoncu, the founder of the Kalyon Group) got married on April 13, 2019. President Erdoğan and his wife Emine Erdoğan were the marriage witnesses. The marriage was reported as the company marriage of Turkuvaz and Demirören Groups.
It is known that the amount of the loan provided by the state bank Ziraat Bank in the sale of Doğan Media Group to Demirören Group was 675 million US dollars and it was a 2-year non-refundable loan with a maturity of 10 years.
Business Form
Private
Legal Form
Joint stock company
Business Sectors
Energy; Manufacturing; Tourism; Ports; Construction; Education; Digital
Other Print Outlets
Hurriyet (10.18%), Milliyet (6.43%), Posta (6.86%)
Other TV Outlets
Kanal D (6.29%)
Other Online Outlets
milliyet.com.tr
milliyet.tv
gazetevatan.com
skorer.com
uzmanpara.milliyet.com.tr
hurriyet.com.tr
dha.com.tr
posta.com.tr
Media Business
Media Business
TV | Kanal D, CNN Türk
E-commerce | milliyetemlak.com
Print | Milliyet newspaper, Hürriyet newspaper, Posta newspaper, Fanatik newspaper
Online | milliyet.com.tr, milliyet.tv, gazetevatan.com, skorer.com, uzmanpara.com, hurriyet.com.tr,dha.com.tr, posta.com.tr,
Business
Manufacturing | Demirören Heavy Metal, Parsat Piston, MS Engine Service
Tourism | Kemer Country Club, Kemer Country Hotel
Real Estate | Kemer Country, Lidya Flats, Seyhan Park Evleri, Taksim Real Estate
Shopping Malls | Demirören İstiklal
Ports | Zeyport , Dolfen Pie
Construction | Lidya Building
Education | Ata Eğitim Kurumları
Games of Chance | claim, misli.com, sisal luck
General Information
Founding Year
2005
Founder
Erdoğan Demirören
Affiliated Interests Founder
Born in 1938 in Bursa, Erdoğan Demirören is a middle school graduate (from Saint Benoît in Istanbul). Demirören family's wealth is estimated to be around $ 1-1,5 billion, acquired mostly from mining, energy and construction. Erdoğan Demirören was the majority shareholder of the conglomerate 'Demirören Holding A.Ş.' which already published Milliyet and Vatan newspapers.
The recordings of alleged phone conversations between Demirören and then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were leaked in May 2014, in which the Prime Minister scolds Demirören for a news story, asking for those responsible to be fired, and Demirören is heard crying. He attended President Erdoğan's daughter's wedding on May 2016.
Erdoğan Demirören has purchased all media assets of Doğan Group, and now has five newspaper, including the website of now-closed Vatan newspaper, Milliyet, Hürriyet, Posta newspapers and Fanatik daily and their websites; CNN Turk and Kanal D TV channels on March 2018.
Erdoğan Demirören died on June 8, 2018. After his death, his son Yıldırım Demirören was elected as the board of chair of Demirören Holding.
Contact
Şişhane Yokuşu Demirören Han. No:2, 34420 Azapkapı Beyoğlu İstanbul
Tel.: + 90 212 238 22 72
Website: www.demiroren.com.tr
Tax/ ID Number
TradeRegistry No: 546862
Financial Information
Revenue (Financial Data/ Optional)
MD
Operating Profit (in Mill. $)
MD
Advertising (in % of total funding)
MD
Management
Executive Board
After the death of Erdoğan Demirören, the founder of Demirören Holding, on 8 June 2018, his son Yıldırım Demirören was appointed as the Chairperson of the Board of Directors.
Other children of Demirören are Meltem Oktay, the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors, and Fikret Tayfun Demirören, a member of the Board of Directors of the Holding.
Further Information
Meta Data
The websites for daily Milliyet and Vatan clearly indicate Demirören group as the owner. The names and shares of family members can be found at the Trade Registry Gazette. The shareholder structure was not updated after the death of Demirören on July 8, 2018. The data can be seen at hurriyetkurumsal.com
According the trade registry gazette published on June 27, 2018, Yıldırım Demirören is the head of board of directors. They don't share statistical information about their employees. The last financial report can be easily found on the hurriyetkurumsal.com
Accused of leading a criminal organization and having fled Turkey, Sedat Peker started broadcasting on his YouTube channel on May 2, 2021. While these videos reveal new allegations in the state-mafia-media relationship, they exemplify that the political relations of media owners are not limited to the government but also extend to third parties -- who are being wanted for the leadership of a criminal organization.
In one of these videos, Peker alleged that Demirören did not pay off the loan of 750 million dollars that it received from the Ziraat Bank in the purchase of Doğan Media Group. Demirören Group did not make a statement in response to these allegations.
