Senior US diplomat to visit Turkey amid corruption probe

WASHINGTON

Halkbank came to the agenda in April when it denied claims that it was carrying out operations that broke international sanctions on Iran. Hürriyet Daily News photo by Selahattin Sönmez

A senior U.S. terrorism and financial intelligence diplomat is expected to visit to Turkey tomorrow, amid the ongoing corruption operation targeting high-profile figures.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen was set to travel to Germany, the U.K., Turkey, and Israel this week, in order to continue the Treasury’s engagement on issues related to illicit finance, including the implementation of existing international economic sanctions against Iran. Cohen is scheduled to visit Turkey tomorrow, daily Hürriyet reported.

Cohen had warned Turkey in 2011 about trading with Iran, a country under international sanctions for its nuclear program.

“I have urged the Turkish government to assist Turkish banks in protecting themselves from Iran’s attempts to abuse its existing trade and financial relations with Turkey to support its proliferation activities,” he said at that time.

The wide-ranging investigation that kicked off in Turkey yesterday includes state-run Halkbank, which came onto the agenda in April when it was forced to deny claims that it was carrying out operations that could break sanctions on Iran.