The Turkish lira plummeted Friday after reports surfaced that a trader accused of helping Iran evade sanctions invoked the name of Turkish President Recep Erdogan as part of a money-laundering scheme. Bloomberg reports, citing court documents, that US prosecutors say the scheme was supported by Turkey’s government.
The lira dropped to its weakest point since January, hovering around an all-time low for the currency.
From Bloomberg:
US prosecutors in New York have gathered taped conversations and other records that suggest the trader may have sought support from Erdogan. The Turkish president hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing, and it’s possible that the trader falsely invoked Erdogan’s name to influence others. The people charged in the case are captured in the recorded conversations, which were introduced in a filing in federal court in Manhattan.
The documents introduced in the sanctions and money- laundering case against the Turkish-Iranian gold trader, Reza Zarrab, could further complicate the relationship between the US and Turkey, a majority-Muslim country long considered a crucial ally in the region.
[…]
‘The Zarrab case is the one to watch in terms of US- Turkey relations,’ Tim Ash, a London-based strategist for BlueBay Asset Management LLP, said in an email to clients. ‘Zarrab is thought to have been close to the Erdogan family and, indeed, he was given Turkish citizenship, alongside Iranian. This is a real stress point.’
@jim your police need to stop killing black people you are racist country. Turkey is much stronger and modern than ever whereas your existence based on just murders of inocant people.
Jim McGuire you may make fun of it. Yes undermining common people is a general tendency of ruling power everywhere. Erdogan is harming democracy in Turkey. But to do favour to the people of Turkey West shouldn’t provide Erdogan chances by doing bigotry.
I have seen the comments above some are ridiculous but the truth is with AKP Turkey a prosperous country , has gone back to the Middle Ages
Jim McGuire
Perhaps if America stopped trying to kill all those who criticize the USA, Americans might not be so hated?
I find it a total failure of science to get in the hearts of westerners.
Turkey is a democracy so far and what Erdowan playing with religious emotion is bad if you are on the side of modern humans the likes of Darwin & Stephen Hawking. In west Jihad is a very ugly word and crusade is a word of very high moral value. Isn’t it a pretty stark bigotry. So shameful for 400 years of renaissance, industrial revolution, scientific advancement and constitutional governance.
Jim McGuire you , sir , are a disgrace to our country.
Claire Scott any news on the 100,000 people arrested and held without trial? What about Turkey holding the unenviable record for the highest number of journalists arrested and held in prison. Enjoy your stay in Turkey.
Have you ever been i turkey which im guessing never !!! North korea and turkey are sooooooooooo far apart in standards of living it is not even a comparision, and i can easily give 10 counties i wouldnt even set in due to human right issues and how they treat people before turkey. I live in turkey, been here for 14 years, been to the east where problems are, lived in areas a couple of hours away from problem areas, and frequently vist only turk areas and would still feel more unsafe to walk the streets of london or new york at night !!!!!
Turkey’s days are numbered. Had Ataturk been alive today, Erdogan would have been hanged for treason. Personally I think Erdogan is doing a great job reviving a Neo Ottoman Turkey that will be annihilated by the West. The Turks have never come to terms with their past because they don’t admit to it : the murder of 2.5 million Greeks and Armenians from 1913-1923 , a 10 year reign of terror culminating in the destruction of the Greek population on the east coast of Asia Minor. Currently providing cash for oil stolen from the Syrian people by ISIS and sold on international markets with Erdogan’s son in law as the middleman, money laundering for Iran via the illegally occupied north of Cyprus whose banks refuse to be audited. The continued illegal occupation of northern Cyprus in violation of countless UN and EU resolutions, the murder of 6,000 Cypriot people in cold blood, and of course the complete and utter destruction of entire Kurdish towns in Kurdistan, western turkey. Turkey is a front runner in genocide from where Hitler was a student from which he obtained his ideas and organised the holocaust.
You evil looking guy! America created all the terror groups and supporting them. Your ex_president even accepted that fact. I invite you to be a member of honoured nations such as Turkish. Leave your evil country.
America is the biggest terrorist supplier to all around the world, creating terror groups arming them and invading these countries showing that there are terrorist over there. GOD WILL TERMINATE YOU CRIMINAL COUNTRY ABD