(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that Turkey would not succumb to 'blackmail by the United States in the trial of a Turkish bank executive being charged with evading US sanctions on Iran.
Already strained ties between North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) allies Ankara and Washington have deteriorated as Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab, who is co-operating with US prosecutors, detailed in court a scheme to evade US sanctions.
Erdogan said that Turkey's dealings were in line with the decisions of the United Nations, adding that they were not against Ankara's alliance with Washington.
'What have we done, for example? We bought natural gas from a country we have an agreement with, so our citizens wouldn't be cold in the winter. Like other countries, only the UN's decisions bind us, and Turkey followed them to the dot, he told members of his ruling AK Party in the eastern province of Mus.
Erdogan also declared that businessmen who move assets abroad are committing 'treason, adding that his government should put an end to the practice.
'I am aware that some businessmen are attempting to place their assets overseas. I call on the government not to authorise any such moves, because these are acts of treason, he told party members.
The Turkish president did not name names, but his comments came two days after Turkish prosecutors ordered the seizure of Zarrab's assets.
The Istanbul public prosecutor said the assets of Zarrab and his family would be confiscated as part of a probe, the state Anadolu news agency said.
The Hurriyet daily said the order affected Zarrab and 22 others, including his daughter with Turkish pop star Ebru Gundes.
Over three days of testimony, Zarrab has implicated top Turkish politicians, including Erdogan.
The trader implied in testimony on Thursday that Erdogan knew how he and defendant Mehmet Hakan Atilla, deputy chief executive of Turkish lender Halkbank, had dodged sanctions.
He told the court he was informed that in 2012, then-prime minister Erdogan and then-treasury minister Ali Babacan had given 'instructions for two other Turkish public banks, Vakif and Ziraat, to take part in the scheme.
There are fears in Turkey that a guilty verdict in the Zarrab case could lead to possible sanctions on one or more Turkish banks, spelling bad news for the country's fragile economy.
Ankara has cast the testimony as an attempt to undermine Turkey and its economy, and has previously said that it was a 'clear plot by the network of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who it alleges engineered last year's coup attempt.
'This case is nothing more than the December 17-25 plot being carried across the ocean. Excuse us, but we will not succumb to this blackmail, Erdogan said, referring to 2013 leaks about alleged government corruption which were blamed on his opponents.
Although he has not yet responded to the courtroom claims, Erdogan has dismissed the case as a politically motivated attempt to bring down the Turkish government, led by Gulen.
Turkey has repeatedly requested Gulen's extradition, but US officials have said that the courts require sufficient evidence before they can extradite the elderly cleric, who has denied any involvement in the coup.
Erdogan: This case is nothing more than the December 17-25 plot being carried across the ocean. Excuse us, but we will not succumb to this blackmail.
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