Euronews Turkish service reported on Thursday that several wealthy Turks became citizens of Malta in 2017.
The list of people who obtained Maltese citizenship through the country’s “Citizenship by Investment” program was published by the country’s official gazette on Dec. 21, 2018.The program allows the acquisition of Maltese nationality to those who purchase at least € 650,000 in real estate in Malta.Among the 3,000 people who acquired Maltese citizenship were prominent Turks, some of whom were among the highest taxpayers in Turkey.Dilek Güngör, a columnist for the Sabah newspaper, pointed out that several members of the Sabancı family, which owns one of the largest conglomerates in Turkey, including Çiğdem Sabancı Bilen and Suzan Sabancı Dinçer, whose wealth according to Forbes amounts to $1.2 billion and $1 billion, respectively, were on the list.Also on the list was Gönenç Gürkaynak, who was one of the 10 highest taxpayers in Turkey in 2017.Gürkaynak on Thursday said via Twitter that he elected to obtain a Maltese passport for easy travel to the Schengen area.
