George Soros's Open Society Foundation said on Monday it would cease operations in Turkey, days after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the billionaire philanthropist was trying to divide and destroy nations.
It faced an investigation by the Interior Ministry which sought to demonstrate a link, which it denied, between the foundation and protests at Istanbul's Gezi Park in 2013.
The foundation said it would apply for the legal liquidation and winding up of the company's operations as soon as possible.
One of its founders in Turkey, Hakan Altinay, was among 13 people detained 10 days ago for supporting jailed rights activist Osman Kavala in a bid to overthrow the government through mass protests.
In a speech last week, Erdoğan linked those arrests to Soros. "The person (Kavala) who financed terrorists during the Gezi incidents, is already in prison," he told a meeting of local administrators.
"And who is behind him? The famous Hungarian Jew Soros. This is a man who assigns people to divide nations and shatter them. He has so much money and he spends it this way."
