NEWS DESK: Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to cutbilateral agreements between his country and the US after denouncingAmerica’s justice system, reportedThe Independent with additional inputfrom Reuters.
A US court convicted a Turkish banker on Wednesday following a trial thatincluded testimony of corruption by top Turkish officials.
In his first public comments on the verdict, Mr Erdogan cast the case as aUS plot to undermine the government and economy of Turkey – a key Nato ally.
“If this is the US understanding of justice, then the world is doomed,” MrErdogan told a news conference before his departure to France for anofficial visit.
He continued: “The bilateral accords between us are losing their validity.I am saddened to say this, but this is how it will be from now on.”
The trial saw a jury convict Mehmet Hakan Atilla, an executive at Turkey’smajority state-owned Halkbank, of evading Iran sanctions.
Some of the court testimony implicated senior Turkish officials, includingMr Erdogan. Ankara said the case was based on fabricated evidence.
Turkey’s foreign ministry on Thursday condemned the conviction asunprecedented meddling in its internal affairs. The row has unnervedinvestors and weighed on the Turkish lira, which hit a series of recordlows last year.
The court case has put pressure on relations between Washington and thebiggest Muslim country in Nato, which were already strained after a failed2016 coup in Turkey, which Mr Erdogan blames on followers of a cleric wholives in the US.
Only last week the US and Turkey lifted all visa restrictions against eachother, ending a months-long visa dispute that began when Washingtonsuspended visa services at its Turkish missions after two local employeesof the US consulate were detained on suspicion of links to the coup.
Atilla was convicted on five of six counts, including bank fraud andconspiracy to violate US sanctions law. The case was based on the testimonyof a wealthy Turkish-Iranian gold trader, Reza Zarrab, who cooperated withprosecutors and pleaded guilty to charges of leading a scheme to evade USsanctions against Iran.
In his testimony Zarrab implicated top Turkish politicians, including thePresident. Zarrab said Mr Erdogan, then prime minister, had personallyauthorised two Turkish banks to join the scheme.
Turkey accused US court officials of ties to Fethullah Gulen, the clericTurkey blames for the coup attempt. The bank has denied any wrongdoing andsaid its transactions were in line with local and international regulations.
“The United States is carrying out … a chain of plots, and these are notjust legal but also economic plots,” Mr Erdogan said.