Turkish government spokesman Bekir Bozdağ said on Monday that its former economy minister, indicted in the United States for conspiring to violate U.S. Iran sanctions, acted within international law and that charges against him amounted to a coup attempt through American courts.
Former minister Zafer Çağlayan "has protected Turkey's interests as Turkish economy minister, and has acted within the laws of our country and international laws while doing that," Bozdağ said.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Bozdağ said the accusations against Çağlayan were "part of a dirty game" and claimed the U.S. judiciary had become "a tool of the FETÖ."
The charges against Çağlayan were "a repetition of the December FETÖ [Fethullah Terrorist Organization] coup attempt ... through the American judiciary", Bozdağ said, referring to 2013 leaks about government corruption. Erdoğan and cabinet members have been listened by the network of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen. Followers of Gülen infiltrated the Turkish bureaucracy and built ties with the ruling AKP party. But Erdoğan - Gülen alliance has faltered in recent years.
Cağlayan and the ex-head of a state-owned Turkish bank were charged on Wednesday with conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran by illegally moving hundreds of millions of dollars through the U.S. financial system on Tehran's behalf. The charges stem from the case against Reza Zarrab, an Iranian- Turkish tycoon who was arrested in the United States over sanctions evasion last year.
Reza Zarrab, also known by the name Rıza Sarraf, was arrested in Turkey, in 2013 of bribing senior ministers from Erdoğan's ruling party with cash and lavish gifts as part of a scheme to bypass US sanctions on Iran. But he released after Erdoğan ordered. Zarrab was arrested while on holiday in Florida with his wife and daughter in 2016. The arrest threatens to reopen a case that reached right into Erdoğan’s inner circle and to tarnish the party that he founded.
