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Turkey fines Dogan $400m

February 19, 2009

Turkey's biggest media group has fallen foul of the authorities incurring a $408m tax fine at a time when its advertising revenues are set to weaken and its parent company wants to use its cash to expand in other sectors. Dogan Yayin, which owns TV channels and daily newspapers disclosed the fine, which is bigger than its current market capitalisation. The group, which plans to appeal, said it had also been ordered to pay back taxes.

The penalty is the latest in a string of regulatory decisions against the media and energy conglomerate, controlled by billionaire Aydin Dogan. Investors worry that the group could be suffering from a public row between Mr Dogan and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, who last autumn called on his supporters to boycott Dogan publications due to coverage of a corruption scandal.

Categories: Articles, Broadcast, Regulation