Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: Late April
Late April Trends
Manhattan
Halkbank’s Last-Minute Effort to Scuttle Iran Sanctions-Evasion Case
Halkbank, a public lender majority-owned by Turkey’s sovereign wealth fund, claimed on April 12 before a U.S. court that the bank is immune from charges U.S. prosecutors brought in October 2019, which...
Policy Briefs
Manhattan Court Gave Erdogan’s Pet Bank a Get-out-of-Jail-Free Card
Turkey’s currency is in free fall. International investors are fleeing the country. Accusations of bribery and support for terrorism abound. And something clearly is rotten at the heart of the Turkish...
Op-eds
Turkey’s Ziraat Bank Under Scrutiny
Irregularities Point to Erdoğan’s Manipulation of Financial System to Consolidate Power
Memos
Turkey’s Frantic Gold Rush Points to a Financial Crisis Ahead
As ordinary citizens seek to preserve their wealth, President Recep Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party is finding new ways to take advantage of the gold rush.
Op-eds
The Retrenchment Syndrome
A Response to “Come Home, America?”
Trump Should Teach Erdogan a Lesson in Law, Not Corruption
The president offered to help Turkey’s strongman beat U.S. courts, John Bolton has revealed. It only helps Iran.
Op-eds
Time to Close the Legal Loopholes that Facilitate Russian Illicit Finance
It is long past time to close this gaping hole in America’s defenses against illicit finance and malign influence.
Op-eds
U.S. Prosecutors Propose Massive Contempt Fine for Sanctions-Evading Turkish Bank
U.S. prosecutors in New York asked a federal judge on January 21 to impose escalating fines on Turkey’s Halkbank for failing to respond in court to criminal charges that it helped Iran evade U.S. sanctions....
Policy Briefs
War by Other Means
A History of Anti-Israel Boycotts, From the Arab League to BDS
Monographs
Trump’s Turkey problem
In what may well have been the shortest duration of sanctions in modern history, President Trump on Oct. 23 lifted all of the sanctions he had imposed on Turkey just nine days earlier for “escalating...
Op-eds
30 German mosques and cultural centers tied to Hezbollah: intel report
Some 30 mosques and cultural centers in Germany have ties to...
Op-eds
Turkish Islamic Theologian Lashes Out At Homosexuals And CSD As ‘Heresy’
Since 1970, there have been Christopher Street Day celebrations across the world to advance LGBT rights and show pride.
Op-eds
Credibility Gap: China’s FATF Presidency
Memos
Hizballah operative convicted of terror charges after surveilling targets in New York City
On May 16, a jury in Manhattan found Ali Kourani guilty of committing various crimes on behalf of Hizballah’s Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO), which plans terrorist operations around the world. The...
Op-eds
Trump Waives Iran Sanctions for Turkey
How Erdogan could use the exception to outsmart the United States, again.
Op-eds
Pastor Brunson is free. But the West still needs a policy on Erdogan’s hostages.
In a major reversal Friday, a Turkish court ...
Op-eds
Managing Terrorism Financing Risk in Remittances and Money Transfers
Download the full testimony here....
Legislative Testimonies
Ex-Green Beret Commander: Time to Consider NKorea Regime Change
North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un is never going to give up, and it is time the United States starts thinking about regime change, whether the U.S. drives for it itself or presses on China...
Op-eds
In Venezuela’s Toxic Brew, Failed Narco-State Meets Iran-Backed Terrorism
As if the political and economic chaos wracking Venezuela wasn’t worrying enough, a couple of recent stories underscore the potential national security threat brewi...