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Documents of The Paradise Papers, a special investigation by the Guardian daily and 95 media partners worldwide into a leak of 13,400,000 files from two offshore service providers and 19 tax havens' company registries, are being published. Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım's son and relatives are also mentioned in the documents.
The papers reveal offshore interests and activities of more than 120 politicians and world leaders, including Queen Elizabeth II, U.S. President Donald Trump's commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross doing business with President of Russia Vladimir Putin's son-in-law through a shipping venture in Russia as well as the chief fundraiser and senior adviser to the Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, getting involved in the movement of millions of dollars to offshore havens.
According to the Paradise Papers, the documents include "details from 19 corporate registries maintained by governments in secrecy jurisdictions".
These are: Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Cook Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Labuan, Lebanon, Malta, the Marshall Islands, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vanuatu.The papers cover the period from 1950 to 2016.
Concerning Turkey, the documents also reveal that Prime Minister Yıldırım's sons have 5, his maternal uncle has two offshore companies and that his nephew is the manager of 4 offshore companies.
Only cooperator from Turkey is Cumhuriyet daily
According to the Paradise Papers, the material, that has come from "two offshore service providers and the company registries of 19 tax havens, was obtained by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung", like the Panama Papers in 2016, and "shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) with partners including the Guardian, the BBC and the New York Times.
More than 382 journalists have from 96 media outlets from all over the world have on these 13,400,000 documents for the publication of the investigation.
Cumhuriyet daily is the only cooperator from Turkey who participated in this team work.
The reports are being published in 67 countries simultaneously.
Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım's family
According to the report, there are eight corporations that are linked with Prime Minister Yıldırım's son, maternal uncle and nephew. The eight corporations have been revealed corporations which wanted to evade taxes in Turkey.
The names of these companies are:
Hawke Bay Marine Co Ltd., Black Eagle Marine Co Ltd., South Seas Shipping N.V., Dertel Shipping Limited, Nova Warrior Limited, Nova Ponza Limited, Rory Malta Limited ve Tulip Maritime Limited.
Yıldırım's close friend Salih Zeki Çakır
Salih Zeki Çakır is a partner of two of the above-mentioned companies. Known for having won tenders of the Ministry of Transportation, Çakır's name has became a topic of conversation with regards to the ship-sales to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's son Burak Erdoğan.
Çakır was also the business partner of Binali Yıldırım before he took office as the Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communication
As the ship sales were on public agenda, Çakır had stated that he was a close friend of the then Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communication Yıldırım, that he got Yıldırım's support for the elections of the Chamber of Shipping but denied that he was the owner the ships that were the subject of the sales.
Çakır also has business connections with PM Binali Yıldırım's son Erkam Yıldırım and his maternal uncle Yılmaz Serence.
Companies of Yıldırım brothers
According to Paradise Papers, the Yildirim brothers are the "sole shareholders of two companies registered in Malta".
* "The first, Hawke Bay Marine Co. Ltd, was set up in April 2004. Public records suggest that the company owns or manages shipping vessels.
* "The second, Black Eagle Marine Co. Ltd, was incorporated in January 2007.
Records show that Erkam Yıldırım, who was the majority shareholder of the companies, is also the director of both. The companies were listed as active in the Malta Registry of Companies in October 2017.
Nova Warrior - Oras Denizcilik connection
International Maritime Organization (IMO) registries, the address of Nova Warrior Limited, of which Erkam Yıldırım is a shareholder, is registered as the İstanbul-based Oras Denizcilik ve Ticaret Ltd Şti.
According to the Turkish Trade Registry Gazette, Salih Zeki Çakır and Ahmet Said Atasoy were registered as Oras Maritime's shareholders until July 2006 and its current shareholders are Çağrı Cihan Çakır and Nihan Nur Çakır.
According to the official records, there is no connection between Oras Denizcilik and Erkam and Bülent Yıldırım. But the Maltese records point to a cooperation between Oras Denizcilik and the Yıldırım brothers.
The IMO registries also show a ship registered under the still-active Nova Warrior Limited whose director is PM Yıldırım's nephew Süleyman Varol. (EKN/EA/DG)
