Dinç Bilgin (born 1940) is a Turkish businessman who built up a media empire which was voluntarily handed over to the
Turkish government
The Government of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Hükûmeti) is the national government of Turkey. It is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative democracy and a constitutional republic within a pluriform multi-party ...
in 2008 over alleged financial irregularities relating to Etibank. These companies were later sold by
TMSF
The Savings Deposit Insurance Fund of Turkey ( tr, Tasarruf Mevduatı Sigorta Fonu), a.k.a. TMSF in abbreviated form, is the governing body concerned with matters of fund management and insurance in the Turkish banking system.
The body was found ...
for $ 1.1 Billion. He founded a number of newspapers including ''
Sabah
Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory o ...
'' (1985) and ''
Takvim
''Takvim'' is a Turkish daily newspaper owned by Kalyon Group. The word "takvim" means calendar in Turkish.
Founded by Dinç Bilgin in 1994, ''Takvim'' was acquired by Ahmet Çalık's Turkuvaz Media Group in 2008, as part of its $1.1bn purchase ...
'' (1994), and a number of television stations, including ATV (1993). He also founded the now-defunct '' Ateş'' and '' Yeni Yüzyıl'' in 1995, selling them to
Korkmaz Yiğit
Korkmaz Yiğit (born 1943, in Erzincan) is a Turkish businessman. He made his fortune in construction, and expanded into finance and media, but fell rapidly from grace in 1998 when apparent connections with mob figure Alaattin Çakıcı were reve ...
Sabah
Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory o ...
'' (1985) and ''
Takvim
''Takvim'' is a Turkish daily newspaper owned by Kalyon Group. The word "takvim" means calendar in Turkish.
Founded by Dinç Bilgin in 1994, ''Takvim'' was acquired by Ahmet Çalık's Turkuvaz Media Group in 2008, as part of its $1.1bn purchase ...
'' (1994), and a number of television stations, including ATV (1993). He also founded the now-defunct '' Ateş'' and '' Yeni Yüzyıl'' in 1995, selling them to
Korkmaz Yiğit
Korkmaz Yiğit (born 1943, in Erzincan) is a Turkish businessman. He made his fortune in construction, and expanded into finance and media, but fell rapidly from grace in 1998 when apparent connections with mob figure Alaattin Çakıcı were reve ...
in 1998.
Etibank was privatised on 2 March 1998 to Medya İpek Holding A.Ş., co-owned by Bilgin and
Cavit Çağlar
Cavit Çağlar (born 1944, Komotini, Greece) is a Turkish businessman and politician. He was elected to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) for the True Path Party (DYP) in 1991, serving as a Minister of State responsible for state-own ...
, for $155m. The bank was sold to Bilgin's Medya Sabah Holding A.Ş. in 2000. It was taken over by the government's
TMSF
The Savings Deposit Insurance Fund of Turkey ( tr, Tasarruf Mevduatı Sigorta Fonu), a.k.a. TMSF in abbreviated form, is the governing body concerned with matters of fund management and insurance in the Turkish banking system.
The body was found ...