Article Scan – Iranian gold stars in Turkish corruption scandal
Iranian gold stars in Turkish corruption scandal (Fehim Taştekin)
It is difficult to predict how the bribery/corruption investigation into several Turkish ministers will end. Although there are those who frame the event as a power struggle between the Fethullah Gulen movement and the government, conspiracy theories expand its dimensions to include the United States and Iran. With the detentions of Suleyman Aslan, CEO of Halkbank, and Riza Sarraf, an Iranian businessman who deals with gold and was originally named Reza Zarrab, the focus is now on the Iran-Halkbank-gold triangle.
The government is looking for US and Israeli hands in the operation because of the use of Halkbank to circumvent the sanctions imposed on Iran. Prosecution sources stress that the investigation is aimed not at Halkbank but its CEO, after a search of his house yielded $4.5 million hidden in shoeboxes. But the arrival in Turkey of David Cohen, the US Treasury’s undersecretary of terrorism and financial intelligence, shows the importance of the Sarraf-Halkbank file in the affair.
Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/12/iran-gold-turkey-corruption-akp-gulen.html
Erdoğan’s imagined enemies (Abdullah Bozkurt)
The political fallout from dirty deals apparently run by a band of brothers in graft in the Turkish Cabinet will not only damage the ruling Justice and Development Party but it will also leave a weak spot in Turkey’s defenses when it comes to penetration by clandestine Iranian activities in Turkey. If this massive corruption investigation, perhaps the biggest in the history of our republic, is only the tip of the iceberg as some seem to have suggested, then the national security of Turkey is very much at risk of being compromised.
The mere fact that these ministers, these three musketeers of government, may have joined forces to help an Iranian national named Reza Zarrab do his own dirty bidding both in Turkey and abroad (China, Ghana, United Arab Emirates and Italy were mentioned in the files) using government powers and privileges exposes how Turkey has become vulnerable to Iranian plots.
more: http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/abdullah-bozkurt_334551_erdogans-imagined-enemies.html
Do the police have the right to hide investigation? (Sedat Ergin)
The arrests of journalists Nedim Şener and Ahmet Şık on March 6, 2011, within the scope of an investigation led by the Specially Authorized Prosecutor Zekeriya Öz, caused a huge crisis. Immediately after the incident, the deputy security director of Istanbul in charge of intelligence, Ali Fuat Yılmazer, was dismissed. On March 30, Prosecutor Zekeriya Öz was also removed from the investigation. There are conflicting rumors on whether or not the government was informed beforehand about the Şener-Şık operation.
Similarly, it was an even bigger crisis when Specially Authorized Prosecutor Sadrettin Sarıkaya acted to detain the head of national intelligence Hakan Fidan on Feb. 7, 2012. Sarıkaya was then removed from the investigation on Feb. 11. In other words, the pattern that emerged from the Şener-Şık operation was repeated. This incident was regarded as equivalent to a “coup attempt” in government circles, and the focus turned to the head of the Istanbul Police Department, Hüseyin Çapkın: Was he aware of this preparation? Was it possible to conduct such an investigation without his knowledge?
