Hurriyet English with wires
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ağustos 15, 2008 17:00
LinkedinFlipboardE-postaLinki KopyalaYazı Tipi
Tesco, the UK's biggest retailer by sales, said Friday that it wasn't involved in the rezoning of its largest property in Turkey, following a newspaper report that it has become embroiled in a political scandal in the country over the site, MarketWatch reported.
The company's Turkey unit, Tesco Kipa, purchased the land in question with commercial planning consents in place and was not involved in any application for rezoning, MarketWatch quoted a company spokesman saying.
"The allegations that have surfaced in Turkey are a political matter and have nothing to do with our purchase of the land or subsequent store development.
"We acted entirely properly throughout the commercial negotiations to buy this land ensuring that we complied with all local regulations," he said. Tesco operates 66 stores in Turkey.
According to Vatan daily, an entrepreneur, to who Tesco paid $13 million for the site near Istanbul, is accused of bribing a leading politician of the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) with $1 million to push through an ambitious planning application.
Tesco isn't accused of any wrongdoing, and entrepreneur Mehmet Karasu and governing AKP party deputy chairman Saban Disli have also denied any wrongdoing according to Turkish media reports.
Photo: AFP