The Founder and Chairman of the Dubai-based Persian-language GEM TV company has been killed in Istanbul.
The Founder and Chairman of GEM TV, a Persian-language entertainment network, has been killed in Istanbul.
Saeed Karimian, 45, was shot dead in the Maslak neighbourhood, along with his Kuwaiti business partner. The vehicle used in the apparent assassination was later found burnt out. Turkish police are investigating.
Sources within the Turkish government have suggested the killing may be related to business and gangs. Karimian had previously been tried in absentia by a Tehran court and sentenced to six years in prison for spreading propaganda against Iran.
The GEM Group was established in London in 2006, but its headquarters was later relocated to Dubai.
GEM TV dubs foreign TV programmes, such as U.S. game shows and Turkish soap operas. The group’s website claims that the network has 17 Persian-language channels and one channel apiece broadcasting in Kurdish, Azeri, and Arabic. GEM Arabia Channels were launched in 2015 to cater to the Arabic-speaking audience in the Middle East.
