Turkey furious over banker’s fraud conviction in New York

Turkey reacted furiously Thursday to the fraud conviction in New York of a Turkish banker which came after an explosive trial over Iran sanctions-busting that implicated ex-ministers and even President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The conviction of Mehmet Hakan Atilla, deputy chief executive of Turkish lender Halkbank, is set to further ratchet up strains between Washington and Ankara in an increasingly trouble-plagued relationship.

“The US court... has interfered in Turkey’s domestic affairs in an unprecedented way based on so-called evidence that is only fit for forgery and political abuse,” the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

A jury in New York found Atilla guilty on Wednesday of five counts of bank fraud and conspiracy.

The federal trial hinged on the testimony of well-connected Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab, who became a government witness after admitting his involvement in the multi-billion-dollar gold-for-oil scheme to subvert US economic sanctions against Iran.

His testimony implicated former Turkish ministers and Erdogan in the scheme, and identified 47-year-old Atilla as a key organizer.

Turkey’s foreign ministry branded the US ruling as “unfair and unfortunate,” and “a shame of law.”

Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin meanwhile described the conviction as a “scandalous decision in a scandalous case” and a “shameful scenario.”

Erdogan had repeatedly slammed the trial as a plot against Turkey and, according to American newspaper reports, had often raised the case in talks with US leaders.

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, at that point part of Zarrab’s legal team, had even met Erdogan in Ankara in search of a solution to the case.

Zarrab, a prominent gold trader, agreed to testify after striking a deal to plead guilty to violating US sanctions in a switch that infuriated Ankara. His assets in Turkey were later seized.