The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, which guides the boycott against Israel on an international scale since 2005, has called for a boycott against Zorlu Holding.
BDS Turkey, noting that Zorlu Holding is the largest Turkish capital group in Israel, stated that the establishment engages in energy investments in collaboration with the "Israeli occupation regime."
It conveyed information that Zorlu Holding generates electricity for use in Israel's official institutions and industrial facilities. As of today, Zorlu Holding has a partnership in three different electricity generation plants in Israel, with the first one starting production in 2011, according to BDS Turkey's announcement.
The power plants in which Zorlu Holding is a partner generate over 1000 MW of electricity annually, meeting at least 7% of the annual needs of the occupation regime. The energy produced by these plants serves the expansion and empowerment of the occupation. One of these plants is near Ashkelon, another in the Negev Desert, and a third near Ashdod.
While Palestinians in Gaza lack access to electricity and fuel, and hospitals are unable to provide health services, Zorlu Holding continues its activities in the areas surrounding the Gaza Strip, providing economic and logistical support to sustain attacks by the occupying force.
Despite the racist, colonial policies, continuous military attacks, and war crimes carried out by the Israeli occupation force against the Palestinian people, Zorlu Holding's executives declare that the events do not concern them, and they will continue their investments in the occupied territories. Due to its activities in support of the occupying force, Zorlu Holding is one of the accomplices in the genocide against the Palestinian people.
Upon the call of the Palestinian people, we urge everyone who wants to support the freedom struggle of the Palestinian people to boycott Zorlu Holding and its affiliated companies until they withdraw their investments supporting the occupation regime. We call on people to divest from Zorlu Holding's shares, refrain from visiting Zorlu Holding-owned shopping and cultural venues, and encourage artists and cultural workers to avoid performing on Zorlu PSM stages.
Zorlu Holding
Zorlu Holding is an İstanbul-based conglomerate founded by Hacı Mehmet Zorlu in 1953 with the establishment of a weaving workshop in Babadağ. It later evolved through the consolidation of textile factories established over the years into a single entity in 1990. Today, Zorlu Holding operates in various sectors including home textiles, white goods, electronics, energy, real estate, mining, finance, media, and textiles.
The group signed a $4.5 billion deal with the Chinese GSR Capital in February 2018 to invest in battery production through its subsidiary Vestel and with a plan to build a 25,000 mega-watt battery production factory on a 300,000 square meter area (which would provide batteries for 500,000 cars).
In November 2019, the Zorlu Group announced a $400-million investment to boost its production capacities, and the launch of domestic electric cars on the Turkish market by 2022.
Zorlu's subsidiary Vestel is responsible for the manufacture of a series of PVRs (codenamed T810, T816, T825 etc.), branded in the UK under such brands as Goodmans, Digihome, Hitachi and Grundig. These devices run firmware developed by the British company Cabot Communications. (Source: Wikipedia)
(HA/PE)
