Turkey’s sovereign wealth fund (TVF) wants to buy the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD’s) 10% stake in the Istanbul stock exchange, broadcaster CNN Turk reported TVF general manager Zafer Sonmez as saying on October 31.

The EBRD reportedly moved to dispose of its 10% stake in Borsa Istanbul after Turkish officials failed to consult it before appointing a former Halkbank executive—who was jailed in the US for taking part in a conspiracy to evade sanctions on Iran—as the stock exchange’s CEO. The development bank is opposed to the appointment of Mehmet Hakan Atilla, who returned to Turkey after his release from prison in the US in July.

US District Judge Richard Berman on October 23 ordered Halkbank, Turkey’s second largest government-run lender, to send representation to the November 5 second hearing of ‘The US vs Halkbank’ Iran sanctions evasion case. The bank failed to send anyone to the first hearing and was deemed to be a “fugitive” by prosecutors.

The indictment has been brought by prosecutors of the South District of New York (SDNY). It is not clear whether the White House was consulted over bringing the indictment. Turkey could face sanctions if Halkbank is found guilty of participating in the sanctions-busting conspiracy which involves Iranian hydrocarbon revenues and alleged illicit gold trading and money laundering. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has lobbied US President Donald Trump to stop the prosecution, has been implicated in the case but has repeatedly and strenuously denied any wrongdoing.

Senators are probing what Trump’s response was to Erdogan’s requests for the Halkbank investigation to be scrapped and, in the meantime, many in the US Congress remain extremely unhappy with what they see as the US leader’s soft treatment of his Turkish counterpart since Turkey invaded northeast Syria in early October—making an incursion that only became possible when Trump told Erdogan that US forces would not stand in the way, thus betraying the allied Kurdish fighters that were indispensable in the Washington-led battle to destroy the so-called Caliphate established by Islamic State in Syria.

“As long as Erdogan is in charge of Turkey we need to accept the reality that we’re not dealing with a friend,” Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, who has argued for reducing US reliance on Turkish air bases and reviewing nuclear weapons storage there, was cited as saying by Bloomberg on October 30.

Legislation that passed the US House of Representatives on October 29 on a overwhelming vote of 403-16 would sanction Turkish leaders and restrict the Turkish military’s access to US financing and arms. It would also penalise Halkbank for breaking sanctions on Iran, as well as financial institutions found to have aided in transactions that helped finance the offensive in Syria.

However, if the sanctions package makes its way through the Senate to Trump it will be up to him whether he actions all or part of it.

“President Trump has let Erdogan off scot-free,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel of New York said on the House floor on October 30. “It’s up to Congress to act to make it clear where the American government stands.”

After the House vote, Fahrettin Altun, an Erdogan spokesman, wrote on Twitter that the bill “is in direct contradiction to the spirit of a strategic alliance”.

“These brazen efforts to damage our relationship will have long lasting detrimental consequences on many areas of existing bilateral cooperation,” he wrote in a separate post.

While opposed by Turkey, the legislation (H.R. 4695) does not include the harshest measures debated by lawmakers. Other bills that await debate would hit Turkey’s energy industry and sovereign debt. For the US to apply such harsh sanctions to a Nato ally would be unprecedented. (TVF) wants to buy the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD’s) 10% stake in the Istanbul stock exchange, broadcaster CNN Turk reported TVF general manager Zafer Sonmez as saying on October 31.

The EBRD reportedly moved to dispose of its 10% stake in Borsa Istanbul after Turkish officials failed to consult it before appointing a former Halkbank executive—who was jailed in the US for taking part in a conspiracy to evade sanctions on Iran—as the stock exchange’s CEO. The development bank is opposed to the appointment of Mehmet Hakan Atilla, who returned to Turkey after his release from prison in the US in July.

US District Judge Richard Berman on October 23 ordered Halkbank, Turkey’s second largest government-run lender, to send representation to the November 5 second hearing of ‘The US vs Halkbank’ Iran sanctions evasion case. The bank failed to send anyone to the first hearing and was deemed to be a “fugitive” by prosecutors.

The indictment has been brought by prosecutors of the South District of New York (SDNY). It is not clear whether the White House was consulted over bringing the indictment. Turkey could face sanctions if Halkbank is found guilty of participating in the sanctions-busting conspiracy which involves Iranian hydrocarbon revenues and alleged illicit gold trading and money laundering. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has lobbied US President Donald Trump to stop the prosecution, has been implicated in the case but has repeatedly and strenuously denied any wrongdoing.

Senators are probing what Trump’s response was to Erdogan’s requests for the Halkbank investigation to be scrapped and, in the meantime, many in the US Congress remain extremely unhappy with what they see as the US leader’s soft treatment of his Turkish counterpart since Turkey invaded northeast Syria in early October—making an incursion that only became possible when Trump told Erdogan that US forces would not stand in the way, thus betraying the allied Kurdish fighters that were indispensable in the Washington-led battle to destroy the so-called Caliphate established by Islamic State in Syria.

“As long as Erdogan is in charge of Turkey we need to accept the reality that we’re not dealing with a friend,” Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, who has argued for reducing US reliance on Turkish air bases and reviewing nuclear weapons storage there, was cited as saying by Bloomberg on October 30.

Legislation that passed the US House of Representatives on October 29 on a overwhelming vote of 403-16 would sanction Turkish leaders and restrict the Turkish military’s access to US financing and arms. It would also penalise Halkbank for breaking sanctions on Iran, as well as financial institutions found to have aided in transactions that helped finance the offensive in Syria.

However, if the sanctions package makes its way through the Senate to Trump it will be up to him whether he actions all or part of it.

“President Trump has let Erdogan off scot-free,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel of New York said on the House floor on October 30. “It’s up to Congress to act to make it clear where the American government stands.”

After the House vote, Fahrettin Altun, an Erdogan spokesman, wrote on Twitter that the bill “is in direct contradiction to the spirit of a strategic alliance”.

“These brazen efforts to damage our relationship will have long lasting detrimental consequences on many areas of existing bilateral cooperation,” he wrote in a separate post.

While opposed by Turkey, the legislation (H.R. 4695) does not include the harshest measures debated by lawmakers. Other bills that await debate would hit Turkey’s energy industry and sovereign debt. For the US to apply such harsh sanctions to a Nato ally would be unprecedented.