Turkish conglomerate's offices shot at after honorary president's anti-Kurdish joke

Businesses owned by Koç Holding, Turkey's largest conglomerate, have become targets of shootings in apparent retaliation for an offensive joke made by the company's 95-year-old honorary president, Rahmi Koç. The incidents began after Koç recounted a joke last Friday that ridiculed a Kurdish woman during a medical visit.

The joke quickly drew widespread condemnation from media outlets, unions, women's associations, and the Justice Minister. Although Koç issued an apology on Saturday, criticism persisted. The Prosecutor's Office in Izmir has launched an investigation into the incident for "humiliation of a part of the people." The pro-Kurdish DEM party, the third-largest in Parliament, has also joined as a private accuser.

On Sunday, masked individuals fired shots at the Otokoç car dealership headquarters in Istanbul, a subsidiary of Koç Holding. Another masked assailant targeted the facade of a similar branch in Antalya. Early Monday morning, a branch of Yapi Kredi bank, also owned by Koç, was fired upon in Diyarbakir. Police have arrested approximately fifteen individuals in connection with these attacks against the conglomerate, which is perceived as not being aligned with the Turkish government.