An alleged prostitution ring involving young girls from Russia and the Ukraine led Turkish officials to raid and take possession of Savarona on Monday.
According to Reuters and other published reports, more than a dozen people, including foreign businessmen and two underage girls, were detained after the raid. The 136-meter (446-foot) megayacht was located off the coast of Göcek, Turkey. As of Wednesday, eight people, including two women, were still in custody. Further published reports state that a high-ranking Kazakh official and Tevfik Arif, an American real estate magnate, were aboard during the raid. Arif’s spokesperson denies the claims, but thus far no denials have come from Kazakh government representatives.
Savarona plays a significant part in Turkish history, and if the alleged illegal behavior is proven true, then further trouble may arise. Savarona, built in 1931, was sold to the government of Turkey in 1938, for the use of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the republic’s founder. He died later that year, but Savarona remained (and still remains) government property. Several artifacts from Atatürk’s time are onboard, to honor him. Starting in 1989, the superyacht began operating as a charter yacht under a 49-year lease extended by the Turkish government to a company operated by Kahraman Sadıkoğlu, a Turkish businessman. After the raid, the lease was ordered canceled by Turkey’s finance minister, Mehmet Simsek. According to Reuters, Simsek also stated, “If the company does not agree on the cancellation of the ship’s licence, we will take the case to court and make the effort to have it annulled by a court ruling.” Furthermore, Sadıkoğlu could face jail time if charged and convicted of crimes related to the alleged prostitution ring, as insults to Atatürk’s memory are punishable by that method.
According to the Turkish newspaper Habertürk, Sadıkoğlu was in Iraq on Monday and planned to look into the situation when he returned.
Some government officials are so upset by the scandal that they want Savarona’s lease permanently revoked and the yacht turned into a museum.
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