The Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrap has encumbered Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a lawsuit for controversial gold deals with Iran. The trader said in court that Erdoğan had given two Turkish banks instruction to participate in business with Iran.
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Zarrap is said to have brought large amounts of gold to Iran to pay for Iranian gas and oil supplies. The US Public Prosecutor’s Office evaluates this approach as a violation of US financial sanctions imposed on Iran. The Turkish judiciary responded to statements and announced that it would confiscate assets of gold trader and his relatives.
The Turkish-Iranian businessman is accused of having brought Turkish Halkbank gold to Iran between 2010 and 2013. The 34-year-old today pleaded guilty and appears in process as a burden witness. In front of New York court, Zarrap said that President Erdoğan had also called on banks of Vakif and Ziraat to enter gold-counter-gas business with Iran.
According to Zarrap, former Turkish Minister of Economic Affairs, Zafer Caglayan, spoke of a statement Erdoğan’s expansion of business in 2012. For his participation in transactions, economics minister of Zarrap received seven million dollars of bribe money and a stake of up to 50 million dollars in gold stores. In addition to Caglayan, former Halkbank chief Suleiman Aslan and bank’s former vice, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, are also accused.
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As early as 2013, first investigations against Zarraps business had been initiated in Turkey, at that time it was mainly a suspicion of corruption. Erdoğan, n on post of Prime Minister of Turkey, forced cessation of investigations. In March 2016, Zarrap had been arrested during a trip to Florida.
The Turkish president rejected accusations that Turkey had violated US sanctions: “We did not violate embargo,” he said. Erdoğan insists that US sanctions are not binding on Turkish companies. The Halkbank and Vakif bank also negated accusation of illegal business activities. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim also commented on explosive court case and described process as “in no way legal” that proceedings were completely politically motivated. The goal of process was “to put Turkish economy in distress,” said head of government.
