World Is Doomed Because of U.S. Justice System, Turkey’s President Warns
Turkish President Tayyip Erdoฤan criticized the U.S. justice system on Friday after a prominent Turkish banker was convictedย of profiting by evading the sanctions on Iran, in a trial that has strained the U.S. government’s relations with NATO’s largest Muslim country.
The trial included testimony that alleged corruption among high-level Turkish officials, including Erdoฤan,ย Reuters reported. Erdoฤan accused the U.S. of using the trialย and conviction as a means of undermining his country’s economy and leadership. “If this is the U.S. understanding of justice, then the world is doomed,” Erdoฤan said during a news conference.
“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,” he continued.ย “The United States is carrying out a chain of plots, and these are not just legal but also economic plots.” The Turkish leader called on the U.S. toย reconsider theย verdict.
Mehmet Hakan Atilla, an executive atย Halkbank, was convicted on five of six counts, including bank fraud. He wasย acquitted on a charge ofย money laundering.
The verdict comes roughly a week after the U.S. and Turkey mutuallyย lifted visa restrictionsย put in place amid a months-long diplomatic dispute linkedย to a failedย coup in Turkey in 2016. Erdoฤan has accusedย Fethullah Gรผlen, a Turkish cleric who resides in the U.S., of being behind the coup. The U.S. government’s reluctance to extradite Gรผlen has strained its relations with Turkey.
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Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlรผt รavuลoฤlu, called on the U.S. toย honor the Turkishย government’s extradition requestย in an op-ed published byย Foreign Policyย in May.ย “Fetullah Gรผlen, who was declared by his cult as the ‘Imam of the Universe,’ has attempted to destroy democracy in Turkey. The people of Turkey expect the U.S. authorities to take effective legal measures against this threat to our security and democracy, as an ally should,”ย รavuลoฤluย wrote.
There hadย beenย some signs that President Donald Trump would honor the request,ย but Gรผlen now lives in Pennsylvania.
