Reza Zarrab case is a ‘theater,’ says Deputy PM Bozdağ

ANKARA

The Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) of U.S.-based Fethullah Gülen is pulling the strings in the “Zarrab case,” Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ has claimed, referring to the ongoing case in New York in which former Halkbank deputy general manager Hakan Atilla is accused of conspiring to evade U.S. economic sanctions on Iran.

The involvement in the case of FETÖ, widely believed to have been behind Turkey’s July 2016 coup attempt, shows the judicial process is a “theater,” Bozdağ told state-run Anadolu Agency on Nov. 30.

“What kind of justice can we expect from such a case? I don’t expect any justice to come from there. It seems they are finalizing a plot that the FETÖ failed to achieve in Turkey. Those who have written the agenda are doing what the agenda tells them to do,” he said.

“In New York, the U.S. judiciary is performing a theater play,” he said, describing the case was a “plot against Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.”

“Think of a case in which the judge has attended FETÖ’s events, defended the Dec. 17-25 FETÖ-initiated corruption probes, and criticized the Turkish government through the FETÖ window,” he said, referring to the graft probes launched in 2013 which targeted ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) ministers and high-ranking government figures.

“They are talking about a rapporteur. Those who have presented the report are embroiled in an investigation by an Istanbul Prosecutor, an investigation which involves a CHP [main opposition Republican People’s Party] member and another bureaucrat, both of whom are allegedly FETÖ members,” Bozdağ said, referring to former CHP deputy Aykan Erdemir and former Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency Auditor Osman Zeki Canıtez.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued an arrest warrant for both Erdemir and Canıtez on Nov. 28, charging them with providing “fake reports” as evidence in the Zarrab case and “destroying paperwork relating to state security.”

“They listen to a witness, but that witness is a FETÖ member, living abroad because of his FETÖ membership. Maybe they will listen to other FETÖ members too,” Bozdağ said.