Does Obama know how to pressure anyone other than Israel?
Turkey is believed to have emerged in recent years as one of the primary patrons of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. In December 2011, Erdoğan reportedly "instructed the Ministry of Finance to allocate $300 million to be sent to Hamas' government in Gaza." Since then, Turkey has reportedly provided Hamas with funds for hospitals, mosques, and schools in the Gaza Strip, with other resources to help rebuild the territory, particularly after the Hamas war with Israel in November 2012.
Turkey is not Hamas' only sponsor, of course. There is Qatar, which has been on a regional spending spree. And there is also Iran, which has had a difficult time meeting its sponsorship obligations, thanks to Western sanctions designed to derail its nuclear program.
Sanctions won't work, however, if Turkey has its way.
Iran has apparently been benefiting handsomely from Turkey's Halkbank. According to Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, "In essence, gold exports [to Iran] end up like payments for our natural gas purchases." In August 2012, according to Reuters, "nearly $2 billion worth of gold was sent to Dubai on behalf of Iranian buyers." Halkbank acknowledged that it was responsible for processing the payments. Despite increased scrutiny, the Turkish newspaper Zaman noted in January that the Iranian "gas-for-gold" was still going.
Halkbank, meanwhile, has reportedly helped Iran on other scores. In February 2012, the Wall Street Journal reported that Halkbank was processing "payments from third parties for Iranian goods." This included "payments for Indian refiners unable to pay Tehran for imported oil through their own banking system for fear of retribution from Washington."
In November 2012, a Turkish banking watchdog announced Halkbank had curbed its illicit dealings. But the bank's website clearly boasts of a representative office in Tehran.
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Turkey watchers quietly concede that more embarrassment is likely on the horizon. From Hezbollah assets to money-changers and gold dealers who do Iran's bidding to government backing of jihadists in Syria, Turkey will remain an illicit finance problem for the foreseeable future.
Thanks to his ability to deliver Israel's apology, Obama has increased leverage to reverse this trend.Don't hold your breath waiting for this to happen. As the 'Palestinian' experience shows, the only party in the Middle East that Obama has demonstrated any desire to pressure is Israel.
And while he's at it. Obama might try to get Erdogan to stop playing the wounded prima donna and get on with relations with Israel. After all, at Obama's behest, Netanyahu gave Erdogan all he wanted.
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, Iran, Iran sanctions regime, Iranian nuclear threat, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish obsession with Israel, Turkish-Israeli relations
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:46 PM
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