Page 11 - TURKRptNov19

Istanbul stock exchange boss​. “We were not consulted and we do not support it,” the EBRD’s managing director for communications Jonathan Charles told Reuters on October 22.
Turkey’s sovereign wealth fund (TVF) wants to buy the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD’s) 10% stake in the Istanbul stock exchange, broadcaster CNN Turk reported TVF general manager Zafer Sonmez as saying on October 31.
It has to be likely that there is deep unease among EBRD executives that officials are asking it to pay the bill together with local lenders following Erdogan’s botching of the economy that has left the country with a mounting pile of problematic loans.
2.7​ Turkey’s second largest government-run lender Halkbank in US court
US District Judge Richard Berman on October 23 ordered Halkbank, Turkey’s second largest government-run lender Halkbank, to send representation to the November 5 second hearing ​of ‘The US vs Halkbank’ Iran sanctions evasion case, Reuters reported. The bank failed to send anyone to the first hearing and was deemed to be a “fugitive” by prosecutors.
“Should Halkbank fail for a second time to appear pursuant to the Second Summons, the Court will consider any appropriate sanctions for knowing and wilful noncompliance,” Berman said in a court filing.
Such sanctions would only amount to a penalty for failing to appear in court; they would not reflect a finding that the bank was guilty of the charges against it.
Halkbank declined to comment on the order, according to the news service.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan claim that Halkbank participated in the illicit movement of around $20bn in Iranian oil revenue through the US financial system between 2012 and 2016.
“Despite the fact that the Bank's ongoing discussions with the US Department of Justice to resolve this matter without indictment have not yet come to a conclusion, this [indictment] was filed as part of the sanctions introduced against our country by the US government in response to Operation Peace Spring, heroically launched by the Turkish Army to secure our borders and establish peace in the region,” Halkbank said on October 16 in a stock exchange filing after news it was being prosecuted in the US broke.
Given that the indictment seemed to arrive out of nowhere amid the bipartisan displeasure at Turkey’s military offensive in Syria, as well as Donald Trump’s “betrayal” of the US-allied Kurds that cleared the way for the incursion, the court case is widely viewed as politically motivated. However, it is not known whether Trump was informed prior to the filing of the indictment.
Also open to speculation is whether Trump might try stalling any moves that could result in fines or sanctions against Halkbank. Most Turks assume that the judicial process will be shaped by the domestic political struggles in the US and also the direction of US-Turkey relations including the personal relations between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Trump.
Erdogan made attempts to get former US president Barack Obama to scrap the investigation into the bank and when those failed later turned to Obama’s successor Donald Trump with the same request. The bringing of the US
11​ TURKEY Country Report​ November 2019 ​ ​www.intellinews.com