Turkey’s Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) has put the Maydonoz Döner fast-food chain up for sale with a starting price of 2.36 billion Turkish lira ($74 million) after authorities seized the company as part of an investigation linked to alleged ties to the Gülen movement, the Bold Medya news website reported.
According to an announcement published in the Official Gazette, the auction for the group, which includes the Maydonoz Döner and My Fried Chicken brands, will take place on April 1.
The sale covers a broad portfolio of assets including integrated food production and packaging facilities and affiliated companies Somca Gıda, Altı G Gıda, Sümer Entegre Et, Enerca Gıda and Deta Ambalaj. Franchise agreements, meat and poultry processing plants and all intellectual property rights connected to the brands will be transferred to the winning bidder.
The TMSF is a state body originally established to insure bank deposits and manage failed financial institutions. In recent years Turkish courts have also appointed the fund as trustee for companies seized during criminal or terrorism-related investigations, allowing it to operate the firms temporarily and later sell them through public tenders if confiscation orders are upheld.
Maydonoz Döner operates about 390 branches in 65 Turkish provinces and five countries through a large franchise network.
Turkish police launched a nationwide operation against the Maydonoz Döner franchise network in February 2025, when police conducted coordinated raids across 31 provinces in an investigation alleging the company’s franchise structure was used to finance the Gülen movement. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said 353 people, including company executives and franchise operators, were detained in these operations, after which courts appointed trustees from the state-run TMSF to oversee companies linked to the brand.
Police carried out additional detention operations tied to the same investigation in May and June 2025. By July 2025 prosecutors had prepared an indictment for 70 suspects, 46 of whom were in pretrial detention, on charges including membership in an armed terrorist organization and violations of terrorism-financing laws.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since corruption investigations in December 2013 implicated him as well as some members of his family and inner circle.
Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and a conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan began to target the movement’s members. He designated the movement as a terrorist organization in May 2016 and intensified the crackdown following the failed July 2016 coup attempt that he accused Gülen of masterminding. The movement strongly denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
