ISTANBUL: Turkey has criticized the sentencing of a Turkish banker in the United States over his role in helping Iran evade US economic sanctions, in a case that has further strained ties between the two countries.
In a statement late Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry called the trial against Mehmet Hakan Atilla, an employee of Turkish state-run Halkbank, “an entirely feigned process which is inconsistent with the principle of fair trial.”
Turkish government spokesman Bekir Bozdag said Thursday on Twitter that no country has the right to “judge Turkey or Turkish institutions or punish Turkey.”
Bozdag accused the US and the court that tried the case of a plot against Turkey carried out in tandem with a US-based Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey accuses of leading a failed coup in 2016.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses Gulen of attempting to overthrow the Turkish government and has demanded that the US extradite him. Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, has denied the allegations. His freedom in the US has angered Turkey and caused a rift between the NATO allies.
The trial of the banker has strained the ties further, even though Atilla received a sentence that was seen as lenient.
A US judge on Wednesday ordered Atilla to spend 32 months in prison, including 14 months he has already served after his arrest last year during a business trip to New York on behalf of Halkbank. The sentence means Atilla can return to Turkey in about a year.
US probation authorities had called for a life sentence and prosecutors had argued for a 20-year sentence.
Prosecutors maintained that Atilla used his position as Halkbank’s deputy general manager for international banking to help build and protect a scheme that enabled billions of dollars in profits from Iranian oil sales to flow through world financial markets since 2011.
The US judge justified the shorted sentence arguing that Atilla was just a reluctant “cog in the wheel” of the alleged scheme.
The trial, which ended in January, had featured testimony about corruption at top levels of the Turkish government.
The key witness in the case was Reza Zarrab, an Iranian-Turkish gold trader, who testified he paid over $50 million in bribes to a former Turkish finance minister to help the sanction-busting scheme.
But the testimony that drew Turkey’s fury was from a former Turkish deputy police chief involved in a 2013 corruption investigation into the Zarrab scheme that broadened to include top Turkish politicians.
The government has accused Huseyin Korkmaz of links to Gulen and had dubbed the 2013 investigation a “judicial coup” against the government.
The Foreign Ministry said the evidence presented “eradicated the legitimacy of the trial.”
It also said the court made an “unprecedented decision” in the implementation of US sanctions laws by convicting and sentencing Atilla, “a foreign government official.”
Turkey slams US sentencing of Turkish banker on Iran scheme
Turkey slams US sentencing of Turkish banker on Iran scheme
- Turkish government spokesman Bekir Bozdag said Thursday on Twitter that no country has the right to “judge Turkey or Turkish institutions or punish Turkey.”
- The trial of the banker has strained the ties further, even though Atilla received a sentence that was seen as lenient
Kuwait draws $725m in new FDI in 2024–25, KDIPA says
JEDDAH: Kuwait attracted about 222.9 million Kuwaiti dinars ($725 million) in new foreign direct investment during the 2024–2025 fiscal year, as the Gulf state seeks to boost private-sector activity and diversify its economy.
The inflows were approved between April 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025, under Kuwait’s foreign investment framework, the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority said in its 10th annual report released this month.
Approved investments during the period originated from countries including Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the US, as well as the UK, China and the Netherlands, according to data cited by the state-run Kuwait News Agency.
“The authority noted that cumulative approved investments from January 1, 2015, to March 31, 2025, increased to 1.97 billion dinars, spread across 105 investment entities from 34 countries, covering 16 vital sectors,” KUNA reported.
KDIPA said these investments have supported the national economy through job creation, local talent development, technology transfer and localization, increased domestic content, and higher exports.
Sheikh Meshaal Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, director general of KDIPA, said: “Investments have facilitated job creation, technology transfer, and export enhancement, with expenditures by licensed entities increasing by 17.6 percent to reach 1.09 billion dinars between 2015-2023.”
He added: “The first decade of KDIPA’s journey has demonstrated Kuwait’s ability to attract value-added investments and maximize their impact in supporting economic development, thanks to institutional work and close cooperation with our partners in both the public and private sectors.”
Al-Sabah said KDIPA had strengthened its Gulf relations through active participation in high-level meetings, committees, and regional economic initiatives.
“Locally, it enhanced cooperation with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and with more than 15 other government entities to ensure the completion of investment licensing procedures, facilitating approvals, and granting incentives in accordance with its law, in addition to developing a digital integration mechanism to streamline procedures for investors,” he said, according to the report.
He emphasized that the annual report marks a key milestone in tracking progress, providing updates on developments, analyzing operational and investment trends, and identifying challenges and risks, along with ways to address them.
“This aims to advance work methodology, improve decision-making processes, adjust course of action, and enhance performance in a manner that embraces credibility, transparency, and professionalism, while monitoring progress, evaluating efforts, and being more future-ready,” he concluded.
KDIPA noted that the report coincides with the 10th anniversary of its establishment as Kuwait’s official authority for promoting the country and attracting value-added investments.
