In the UK, extreme anti-immigrant sentiment continues to circulate, but it’s estimated that £10 billion has flowed from Turkey to the UK in the last five years. In Türkiye, with the rise to power of the AKP and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Western-oriented system they call democracy has been gradually dismantled, and the transition to a presidential system has distanced Turkey from Europe, making it more like a Middle Eastern country.
As Recep Tayyip Erdogan became more authoritarian, after removing the largest religious group in the country, FETO, from all state institutions, he began replacing them with his own party members, targeting the very fabric of the system. In the last five years, after businessmen’s assets were seized on fabricated pretexts, and some were sent to prisons, businessmen began closing or selling their factories and transferring all their assets to Europe, particularly the UK.
While Ülker Holding, close to the ruling party and Erdogan, is moving all its factories to the UK, it also transferred its assets to the UK just three months ago by selling its media outlets to Can Holding. The total amount is estimated to be around £2 billion. There are also claims that Cengiz Holding, known as Erdogan’s financial arm, has bought an entire neighborhood in London. It is stated that the number of businessmen who have fled the country or moved their investments to Germany, the USA, Egypt, and the UK in recent years is approaching 5,000.
While a large portion of these businessmen who have brought their money from Türkiye to the UK are investing in properties, a significant number are opening restaurants and clinics in areas such as Wimbledon and Richmond.
In short, while large, established companies in the UK are fleeing, thousands of Turkish businessmen are moving their assets to this country. Those who interpret everything negatively by calling it “immigration” should be aware of this fact.