George Soros’s Open Society Foundations to Pull Out of Turkey

George Soros’s Open Society Foundations group has said it will cease operations in Turkey, days after the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, accused the billionaire philanthropist of trying to divide and destroy nations. The organisation said it had been the target of baseless claims in the Turkish media that made it impossible for it to continue its work. It also faced an investigation by the interior ministry that sought to demonstrate a link, which it denied, between the foundation and protests at Gezi Park in Istanbul in 2013. One of its founders in Turkey, Hakan Altinay, was among 13 people detained mid November. They were accused of supporting jailed rights activist Osman Kavala in trying to overthrow the government through mass protests. Read more here.

Source: The Guardian