[Hurriyet Daily News] U.S. prosecutors have charged a former Turkish economy minister and a former general manager of a state bank with conspiring to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran, with a Turkish minister defending his predecessor. The charges targeted former economy minister Zafer ÇaÄŸlayan, former Halkbank general manager Süleyman Aslan and two others, according to the filing, dated on Sept. 6, from the U.S. attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York.
The U.S. indictment broadens a case targeting Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab, who is still in prison in the U.S.
President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan has said he believed U.S. authorities had “ulterior motives” in prosecuting Zarrab.
ÇaÄŸlayan, Aslan and the other two individuals are charged with “conspiring to use the U.S. financial system to conduct hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of transactions on behalf of the Government of Iran and other Iranian entities, which were barred by United States sanctions.”