Billionaire philanthropist George Soros's Open Society Foundation has announced it will cease operations in Turkey, citing 'baseless claims' in Turkish media that made it impossible to continue its work.
The decision follows comments by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who accused Soros of trying to divide and destroy nations, linking him to the 2013 Gezi Park protests. Erdogan referred to Soros as 'the famous Hungarian Jew' in a speech condemned as anti-Semitic.
The foundation stated it would apply for legal liquidation and winding up of its Turkish operations as soon as possible, noting that 'new investigations' were attempting to connect it to the Gezi protests. It insisted it had always complied with Turkish law.
Soros, a Hungarian-born financier, has funded human rights and liberal democratic projects globally but has become a target of far-right propaganda. In the US, disinformation campaigns have falsely linked him to funding protests and migrant caravans, with President Donald Trump also promoting such claims.
