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Turkey calls US trial of Turkish banker 'legal disgrace'

Posted January 04, 2018 6:00 am

By SUZAN FRASER

FILE- In this Dec. 15, 2017 courtroom artist's sketch, defendant Mehmet Atilla, right, testifies during his trial on corruption charges in New York. The Turkish banker accused of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions has been convicted Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, by a jury in New York, after a trial that sowed distrust between the two nations. He was convicted of four conspiracy counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, plus one bank fraud count. He was acquitted of a money laundering charge. (Elizabeth Williams via AP, File) The Associated Press

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Turkey on Thursday slammed the conviction in New York of a Turkish banker accused of helping Iran evade sanctions as a "legal disgrace."

A day after Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a 47-year-old deputy general manager of state-run Halkbank was found guilty of five counts including bank fraud, Turkey's deputy prime minister, Bekir Bozdag, took to Twitter to describe the trial as a "political conspiracy" of "no legal value to Turkey."

The trial of Atilla, which included testimony suggesting high-level corruption in Turkey, has strained ties between NATO allies Turkey and the United States.

"Turkey is a full sovereign and fully independent country," Bozdag said. "Another country cannot put Turkey's institutions on trial."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said: "This is a scandalous verdict in a scandalous trial."

Among the charges that stuck, Atilla was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the United States. He was acquitted of a money laundering charge.

Turkey's foreign ministry also accused U.S. government officials of helping people linked to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen make false claims and provide false evidence - a reference to reports that a former Turkish deputy police chief told the jury during his testimony that the FBI paid him $50,000 and U.S. prosecutors covered his rent.

Turkey maintains the trial was based on Turkish corruption investigations in 2013, which it claims were hatched by Gulen's followers to bring down the government. Erdogan has accused Gulen of being behind a failed 2016 coup attempt and is seeking his extradition.

Atilla was charged by U.S. authorities with taking part in a complex scheme in which Iran traded its oil and gas for gold, with some of the proceeds moving through U.S. financial institutions without their knowledge.

The prosecution's star witness, Reza Zarrab, a Turkish-Iranian gold trader who admitted orchestrating the deals with Iran, testified that he paid over $50 million in bribes to Turkey's finance minister in 2012 to advance the scheme and that he believed Erdogan knew about the plot.

Halkbank issued a statement on Thursday distancing itself from the trial.

"As well as our bank not being a party to the trial, no administrative or financial decision has been taken against our bank," it said.

Turkey's leaders lashed out throughout the trial, with Erdogan calling it an American conspiracy to "blackmail" and "blemish" his country.

In the United States, acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said Atilla was convicted after a "full, fair and open trial." Defense attorney Victor Rocco promised to appeal.

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Associated Press writer Larry Neumeister in New York contributed.

In this courtroom sketch, the jury foreperson reads the verdict as defendant Mehmet Atilla, foreground far right, listens at the United States Courthouse in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018. Atilla was convicted on charges that he took part in a complex scheme in which Iran traded its oil and gas for gold, with some of the proceeds moved through U.S. financial institutions without their knowledge. Atilla's attorney Victor Rocco foreground second left, and Judge Richard Berman is seated on the bench. (Elizabeth Williams via AP) The Associated Press

In this courtroom sketch, defendant Mehmet Atilla, center left, sits with his attorneys at the defense table during his trial at the United States Courthouse in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018. Atilla was convicted on charges that he took part in a complex scheme where Iran traded its oil and gas for gold, with some of the proceeds moved through U.S. financial institutions without their knowledge. From left are defense attorney Victor Rocco, Atilla and defense attorney Cathy Fleming. (Elizabeth Williams via AP) The Associated Press

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