Erdogan Calls for Review of US Indictment Against Former Turkish Minister

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Turkey, criticized the indictment issued against the former Minister of Economy of Turkey in the United States and called for a review of the case by US officials. Mr. Erdogan, on the verge of leaving Istanbul for Uzbekistan, told reporters that the actions taken against several former Turkish officials, including Zafer Caglayan, the former Minister of Economy, are 'clearly political.' He expressed hope for a chance to discuss this matter with American officials and added that the US should reconsider its stance. The Turkish President continued that while one may be a large country, being a fair country is another matter, and to be fair, the judicial system must operate justly. Two days ago, the US Attorney's Office issued an indictment regarding what is claimed to be covert assistance to the Iranian government to circumvent sanctions, against several senior former Turkish officials and former advisors to Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In the indictment filed on September 6 in a Manhattan court, Mohammad Zafer Caglayan, the former Minister of Economy, is accused of receiving tens of millions of dollars in bribes in cash and jewelry for cooperating and assisting in circumventing sanctions and concealing financial transfers of the Iranian government through the US financial system. On Thursday, the current Minister of Economy of Turkey rejected the allegations against several former officials, including one former Minister of Economy regarding assistance in violating US sanctions against Iran, stating that 'it is up to the accusers to prove their claims.' He added that Mr. Caglayan 'did not act against Turkey's national interests, and it does not matter for Turkey if he acted against the interests of other countries.' Zafer Caglayan served as Turkey's Minister of Economy from 2011 to 2013 during Recep Tayyip Erdogan's premiership and was succeeded by Nihat Zeybekci in late 2013. Besides Mr. Caglayan, the names of Suleyman Aslan, the former CEO of the state bank 'Halkbank,' and his deputy, Levent Balkan, as well as Mehmet Hakan Atilla, the bank's executive director, are among those against whom the new indictment has raised charges. These individuals and former officials are accused of assisting Reza Zarrab in the abuse and circumvention of sanctions for financial transfers of the Iranian government. According to prosecutors in this case, from 2010 to 2015, the defendants used Halkbank as a cover to illegally supply currency and gold to Iran. Prosecutors stated that in this context and to circumvent US sanctions, the defendants used shell companies and fake invoices to deceive American banks, indicating that they were engaged in selling food items that were not subject to sanctions. However, Halkbank also stated in a statement on Thursday that it has not committed any wrongdoing. Mehmet Atilla, the executive director of Halkbank, is currently detained in the US, and his trial along with Reza Zarrab is set to take place at the end of October. In December 2013, Turkish media reported the arrest of Reza Zarrab and dozens of others, including Turkish government officials, on charges of money laundering and illegally transferring billions of dollars from Iran to Turkey. Among those arrested were several children of members of Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government and heads of Turkish banks, including Reza Aslan. The wave of arrests was met with reactions and threats from Recep Tayyip Erdogan. At that time, as Prime Minister, he described the arrests as a 'dirty operation' against his government and accused some foreign ambassadors of being involved in the matter, warning that he would expel them from Turkey. Regarding this case, the Turkish prosecutor's office announced in May 2014 that it did not consider the financial corruption case valid and issued a decision of non-prosecution for the accused. In October of the same year, the Turkish prosecutor's office declared the case closed.