September 23, 2019 | FDD's Foreign Podicy

Whose Side is Turkey On?

Episode 41
September 23, 2019 | FDD's Foreign Podicy

Whose Side is Turkey On?

Episode 41

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Turkey is a NATO ally that claims also to be on the same side as the United States in the international fight against terrorism.

Nevertheless, has Turkey — under President Erdogan — become what is known as “a permissive jurisdiction for illicit and terror finance?”

A lawsuit leading to that conclusion has now been filed against a bank, partly owned by the Turkish government, on behalf of an American victim of terrorism and members of his family.

Foreign Podicy host Cliff May is joined by Jonathan Missner, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, in his first interview about this case. Jon is managing partner of Stein Mitchell Beato & Missner LLP and chair of the firm’s Global Practices and Corporate Strategy Groups. He’s also an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center.

Akyan Erdemir, a former member of the Turkish parliament, now a senior fellow at FDD, and Jonathan Schanzer, FDD’s senior vice president for research, also join the discussion — focusing on where Turkey is going, and the implications for the United States and Middle East.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (L) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan salute together the lawmakers of Erdogan's Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party at the Parliament in Ankara on January 3, 2012. (Getty Images)

Issues:

Iran Sanctions Iran-backed Terrorism Lawfare Sanctions and Illicit Finance Turkey