Süleyman Soylu

June 14, 2024 | Sinan Ciddi |

Istanbul Court Censors Reports That Halkbank Loaned $17 Million to Alleged Organized Crime Boss

An Istanbul court on June 5 ordered the removal of all references to allegations by the newspaper Birgun that Halkbank, a public lender, extended a 550 million lira ($17 million) loan to a person accused...

July 27, 2023 | Sinan Ciddi |

Turkey is becoming a major hub for cocaine trafficking to Europe

Ankara’s reputation for smuggling is not new, and its portfolio in facilitating the free flow of illicit goods is growing to include drugs. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Turkey...

May 8, 2023 | Sinan Ciddi |

Erdogan Threatens to Discard Election Results

With elections just six days away and the polls showing a neck-and-neck race between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his main challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Erdogan is threatening to block a transition...

March 20, 2023 | Sinan Ciddi |

No US-Turkey Rapprochement Is Possible Under Erdogan

The Turkish president has morphed into an opponent of democratic governance.

November 17, 2022 | Sinan Ciddi |

The Istanbul Terror Attack Is More Than It Seems

The question of who is responsible for the terrorist attack in Istanbul’s Taksim Square is becoming murkier by the day.

November 15, 2022 | |

Turkey Accuses the U.S. of Complicity in Istanbul Terror Attack

Turkey’s Minister of Interior Suleyman Soylu accused the United States of complicity in Sunday’s terror attack in Istanbul, which killed six people and injured more than 80...

February 19, 2022 | Aykan Erdemir, Kursat Gok

Turkey Could Become the Middle East’s Next Narco-State

If Turkey joins Syria and Lebanon as the third narco-state in the Eastern Mediterranean, this will only compound the region’s trafficking and money laundering problems, while also presenting illicit non-state actors greater opportunities to exploit.

October 23, 2021 | Aykan Erdemir, Toby Dershowitz

Turkey Returns to Financial Action Task Force ‘Grey List’

This designation shows yet again that NATO member Turkey continues to offer a permissive jurisdiction for terror finance, sanctions evasion, and money laundering under the 19-year rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party.

October 22, 2021 | Aykan Erdemir, Toby Dershowitz

Turkey Lands on Anti-Money Laundering Watchlist — Again

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Paris-based global money laundering and terror financing watchdog, added Turkey to its “grey list” on Thursday, placing Ankara alongside 22 other jurisdictions,...

March 2, 2021 | Aykan Erdemir |

House Joins Senate’s Call for Tougher Action Against Erdogan

One hundred seventy U.S. House members released a bipartisan letter Monday urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken to address “the troubling human rights abuses taking place under [Turkish] President...

August 8, 2018 | Aykan Erdemir, Gonul Tol

U.S. Sanctions on Turkish Ministers Require Recalibration

The Trump administration has now made good on its threat to sanction Turkey if Ankara refused to release an American pastor from custody. In an unprecedented move, the U.S. Treasury Department ...

August 2, 2018 | Aykan Erdemir, Merve Tahiroglu

Treasury Sanctions Top Turkish Officials

In an unprecedented move against a NATO ally, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions yesterday against two Turkish cabinet ministers...

July 22, 2016 | Aykan Erdemir |

Despite Coup Failure, Turkish Democracy Still at Risk

The Cipher Brief: It’s been about a week since the failed coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erodgan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP)-led g...