ANKARA: Turkish prosecutors on Friday ordered the seizure of assets of a gold trader testifying in a New York trial against a Turkish banker accused of violating US sanctions against Iran, state media reported.
The Istanbul public prosecutor said the assets of Reza Zarrab and his family would be confiscated as part of a probe, Anadolu news agency said.
The Turkish-Iranian citizen is accused of “espionage” for the benefit of a foreign state, according to the prosecutor’s office, the agency reported.
Hurriyet daily said the order affected Zarrab and 22 others, including his daughter with Turkish pop star Ebru Gundes.
The trader on Thursday implied in testimony that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan knew how he and defendant Mehmet Hakan Atilla, deputy chief executive of Turkish lender Halkbank, dodged sanctions.
He told the court he was informed that in 2012, then prime minister Erdogan and then treasury minister Ali Babacan had given “instructions” for two other Turkish public banks, Vakif and Ziraat, to take part in the scheme.
Ankara has accused the trial of being a “conspiracy” and suggested the American judiciary is seeking to corner Turkey politically and economically.
Earlier on Friday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the trial was “no longer legal” and had become “completely political.”
In a speech two days after Zarrab first took the stand in a Manhattan court, Yildirim said: “God willing, he will turn back from this mistake.”
Turkey has previously said the US case was a “plot” by members of the group led by US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen who Turkey accuses of launching last year’s failed coup.
Zarrab was a key figure in a 2013 Turkish corruption scandal in which he allegedly bribed four ministers to facilitate sanctions-busting trade and other deals.
He was held for 70 days until prosecutors dropped all the charges.
Ankara also denounced the scandal at the time as a conspiracy by Gulen and his group.
The Muslim cleric denies all the allegations.
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Turkey seizes assets of gold trader witness in US trial
Turkey seizes assets of gold trader witness in US trial
Israel to take more West Bank powers and relax settler land buys, media say
JERUSALEM: Israel’s security cabinet approved a series of steps on Sunday that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians, Israeli media reported.
The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).
Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz said the measures included scrapping decades-old regulations that prevent Jewish private citizens buying land in the West Bank.
They were also reported to include allowing Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites, and expand supervision and enforcement in areas under PA administration in matters of environmental hazards, water offenses and damage to archaeological sites.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new measures were dangerous, illegal and tantamount to de-facto annexation.
The Israeli ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The new measures come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in Washington with US President Donald Trump.
In his statement, Abbas urged Trump and the UN Security Council to intervene.
Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank but his administration has not sought to curb Israel’s accelerated settlement building, which the Palestinians say denies them a potential state by eating away at its territory.
Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, deems the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat.
His ruling coalition includes many pro-settler members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.
The United Nations’ highest court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this view.
The West Bank is among the territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state. Much of it is under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).
Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israeli news sites Ynet and Haaretz said the measures included scrapping decades-old regulations that prevent Jewish private citizens buying land in the West Bank.
They were also reported to include allowing Israeli authorities to administer some religious sites, and expand supervision and enforcement in areas under PA administration in matters of environmental hazards, water offenses and damage to archaeological sites.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the new measures were dangerous, illegal and tantamount to de-facto annexation.
The Israeli ministers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The new measures come three days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet in Washington with US President Donald Trump.
In his statement, Abbas urged Trump and the UN Security Council to intervene.
Trump has ruled out Israeli annexation of the West Bank but his administration has not sought to curb Israel’s accelerated settlement building, which the Palestinians say denies them a potential state by eating away at its territory.
Netanyahu, who is facing an election later this year, deems the establishment of any Palestinian state a security threat.
His ruling coalition includes many pro-settler members who want Israel to annex the West Bank, land captured in the 1967 Middle East war to which Israel cites biblical and historical ties.
The United Nations’ highest court said in a non-binding advisory opinion in 2024 that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there is illegal and should be ended as soon as possible. Israel disputes this view.
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