Corruption

Report: Turkey Becoming Major Transit Point for Latin American Cocaine – OCCRP

July 1, 2022 / By

“Since the 1960s, Turkish traffickers have dominated the global heroin trade, establishing both deep corruption webs at home and a criminal tapestry of port contacts, logistics networks and distribution gangs across Europe,” the report said. “By the 1980s, this had consolidated into the so-called “Balkan Route”: a modern multi-branched Silk Road that transported opiates from Afghanistan and Iran, through the Turkish land mass and into Europe via the Balkans.

A second factor is their connections. After the Balkan route coalesced in the 80s, Turkish organized criminals came into contact with their Latin American equivalents, building a flourishing barter economy of heroin for cocaine.

Reality check: Seven ‘bad news’ for Turkey’s naive appeasers | Ahval

June 25, 2022 / By

Above all, the regime in Ankara has violated the constitution and the existing domestic and international laws so many times that it does not have the luxury of losing the elections and simply handing power to its successor. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his proxies could face multiple life sentences.

Thus the regime has a multilayer strategy to win the elections.

Cocaine Trafficking Case of Erdoğan Associate Appears to Be a Tactic to Deflect Pressure :: Middle East Forum

June 4, 2022 / By

The arrest and release of a Turkish businessman close to the government on drug trafficking charges, only after an alert from German authorities, appears to follow classic stalling tactics often used by the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to deflect international criticism.

Time and again the Erdoğan government has “sandbagged” efforts to effectively investigate criminal conduct when the investigation incriminated or implicated senior government officials, members of the ruling Islamist elite or their associates.

Turkish President Erdoğan’s Operative in the U.S. Busted on Fraud Charges | Middle East Forum

June 4, 2022 / By

Israfil Demir, former deputy chair of the Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC), a front organization established under the guidance and support of the Erdoğan government to influence the US government, was charged last year with participating in a multimillion-dollar conspiracy to traffic counterfeit computer networking devices from China to the US.

His associate Musa Karaman, also Turk who worked with Demir in running the scheme, was charged with the same crime on May 20, 2022.

Demir is close to the Erdoğan government and has appeared in pictures next to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Ibrahim Kalin, Erdoğan’s spokesperson. He had been the leader of the youth branches of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the US and ran an election campaign for Erdoğan and his party among the Turkish diaspora in the US as well as lobbying for him.

Main opposition chair: Erdoğan and his family preparing to flee to US – Duvar

May 25, 2022 / By

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu late on May 24 claimed that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his family members will flee Turkey if the government changes next year. Kılıçdaroğlu said that “large sums of money” were being transferred to the U.S. through two foundations as part of this preparation. The main …

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Turkey: NATO’s Pro-Putin Ally – Gatestone Institute

May 19, 2022 / By

On February 25, Turkey abstained from voting on suspending Russia’s membership in most bodies of the Council of Europe in response to the military operation in Ukraine. “During the vote in Strasbourg, Turkey decided to abstain,” Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said. “We don’t want to break off the dialogue with Russia.” In an op-ed published …

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Russia’s Ukraine Propaganda Has Turned Fully Genocidal – Foreign Policy

April 9, 2022 / By

Egged on by the language of annihilation and extermination, Russian soldiers have become willing executioners. On Feb. 26, only two days into the war, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti published an op-ed titled “The Coming of Russia and of the New World.” Its author, without a trace of irony, praises Russian President Vladimir Putin …

Russia’s Ukraine Propaganda Has Turned Fully Genocidal – Foreign Policy Read More »