Turkish Gold Trader Admits to Conspiring to Avoid US Sanctions against Iran

Turkish gold trader Reza Zarrab is shown in this court room sketch with lawyer Marc Agnifilo as he appears in Manhattan federal court in New York, US, April 24, 2017. (Reuters)
Turkish gold trader Reza Zarrab is shown in this court room sketch with lawyer Marc Agnifilo as he appears in Manhattan federal court in New York, US, April 24, 2017. (Reuters)
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Turkish Gold Trader Admits to Conspiring to Avoid US Sanctions against Iran

Turkish gold trader Reza Zarrab is shown in this court room sketch with lawyer Marc Agnifilo as he appears in Manhattan federal court in New York, US, April 24, 2017. (Reuters)
Turkish gold trader Reza Zarrab is shown in this court room sketch with lawyer Marc Agnifilo as he appears in Manhattan federal court in New York, US, April 24, 2017. (Reuters)

A Turkish-Iranian gold trader has admitted to conspiring to evade US sanctions against Iran, a US prosecutor said on Tuesday.

He said that Reza Zarrab pleaded guilty to conspiring to evade US sanctions against Iran and will testify against a Turkish bank official who is charged with arranging illegal transactions involving American banks.

Zarrab will describe a multibillion-dollar international money laundering scheme “from the inside,” Assistant US Attorney David Denton said during his opening statement in the New York federal court trial of Mehmet Hakan Atilla, the deputy general manager of Turkey’s Halkbank.

Atilla’s lawyer, Victor Rocco, attacked Zarrab’s credibility in his opening statement, telling jurors that Zarrab was prepared to lie to avoid jail time.

US prosecutors have charged nine people in the case, though only Zarrab and Atilla are known to be in US custody. The other defendants include the former head of Halkbank, Suleyman Aslan, and the former economy minister of Turkey, Zafer Caglayan.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has said the case was fabricated for political motives, adding to tensions between Ankara and Washington.



Taiwanese Rally For, Against the Recall of Opposition Lawmakers Seen as Close to China

A Taiwan flag can be seen at Liberty Square in Taipei, Taiwan, July 28, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
A Taiwan flag can be seen at Liberty Square in Taipei, Taiwan, July 28, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
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Taiwanese Rally For, Against the Recall of Opposition Lawmakers Seen as Close to China

A Taiwan flag can be seen at Liberty Square in Taipei, Taiwan, July 28, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
A Taiwan flag can be seen at Liberty Square in Taipei, Taiwan, July 28, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo

Threats from China and anger over legislative deadlock are dominating Taiwan's political discourse as residents rally for and against a campaign to recall two dozen opposition Nationalist Party lawmakers in polling to be held on Saturday.

Thousands of supporters of the independence-leaning ruling Democratic Progressive Party turned out in the heart of the capital Taipei on Thursday to hear from civil society activists, writers, musicians and others who support the recalls, which could potentially give the party, also known as the DPP, a majority in the legislature.

The DPP won last year’s presidential election, but came up short in the legislature, The AP news reported.

Since then, the China-friendly Nationalists, also known as the KMT, and their allies have sought to hobble the power of the executive and blocked key legislation, especially the defense budget.

That has been seen as undermining both Taiwan’s hard-won democracy and its ability to deter China’s threat to invade the island it considers its own territory. Those concerns prompted activists to campaign for recall votes in the districts where Nationalists were seen as most vulnerable, and they succeeded in 24 districts where votes are scheduled this weekend.

A recall measures must win 40% of the constituents in a district to succeed, after which a special election will be held to fill the seat, in which all parties can compete.

The KMT and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party together hold a majority in the parliament with 62 seats, while the ruling DPP holds 51 seats.

The KMT on Thursday sent some of its best known politicians, including the mayor of Taipei, the speaker of the legislature and the party chairman, out to urge voters to oppose the recall. It also planned a rally in Taipei on Friday. The KMT calls the measure a power grab by the DPP and a threat to multi-party democracy.

Perhaps more than any issue, China has loomed over the campaign, with both its officials and state media dismissing the recall effort as a further futile attempt to preclude what they call the inevitability of Beijing's annexation of Taiwan, either by military or peaceful means.

On Taiwan, it has brought out differences between Taiwanese who favor pursuing the current path and those who seek accommodation with Beijing. China-friendly politicians have been accused of selling out Taiwan for accepting trips to the mainland and meetings with Chinese politicians, while they defend themselves as keeping open lines of communication in light of Beijing's refusal to interact with the DPP.

The recall campaign — Taiwan's first — was prompted by anti-KMT groups alarmed by the party's closeness with China, corruption and the KMT's refusal to work with President Lai Ching-te's administration.

They first needed to gather signatures from 10% of voters in each district, targeting legislators seen as particularly vulnerable or controversial and under China's influence. Each campaign seeking to unseat a single legislator required a huge organizational effort, limiting the number of KMT lawmakers targeted.

The KMT is primed to contest any special elections that must be called within six months, raising the possibility that they could win back the seats, and the DPP, although enlivened by the campaign, could still remain in the minority.