Islamic dollars for Turkey's Islamic hearts and minds

Submitted by Ianus (Poland), Oct 30, 2009 at 17:33

Jon, you wrote

> Turkish banks (whose laundering of Russian "black money" has been critical to the maintenance of a "stable" exchange rate for the Lira) might be put under detailed examination, with "source of funds" documentation being examined with real attention.<

I have not heard of how much Russian money is being laundered in Turkey. The fact remains though that Russia is the most important business partner of Turkey accounting for 15,5% of its imports. What I have heard of is however the rapid and extensive influx of Saudi $ billions that have financed and kept the AKP rise in power and its 'achievements'.

There is a very interesting article on how the Saudis 'invested' in the AKP and how this latent Saudi finacial influence has changed the internal balance of power and policy-making in Tukey. If Turkey 'drifts South and East' it's because it was part of the deal.

http://www.meforum.org/684/green-money-islamist-politics-in-turkey

To quote a few arresting passages from the analysis:

" Currency stabilization, free books, and consumer goods tax relief are popular, but less clear is where the AKP finds money to stabilize the currency, subsidize popular programs, and run its substantial political machine. After all, according to Turkey's own finance ministry, taxpayers conceal about 74 percent of their earnings. [...]

Current and former government officials, as well as Turkish economists, variously estimated the green money infusion into the Turkish economy to be between $6 billion and $12 billon. Much of the money enters Turkey "in suitcases" with couriers and remains in the unofficial economy. Even when deposited, banks ask no questions about the origins of the cash. "Money laundering is one of the worst aspects of Turkish politics," a former state planning official said. Political parties across the political spectrum develop slush funds without revealing their source. But, under the AKP, the unofficial economy has grown exponentially. Official Turkish statistics provide some clue as to the scope of the problem. Between 2002 and 2003, the summary balance of payments for net error and omission category—basically unexplained income—increased from $149 million to almost $4 billion. This is an eighty-year record error. In the first six months of 2004, an additional $1.3 billion entered the system, its origins unaccounted. But even these net error figures may be too low. According to Kesici, there could be as much as a $2 billion overestimation in tourism revenue. The Turkish government determines official tourism revenue statistics by occasional exit interviews with tourists, asking them how much money they spent at hotels, restaurants, and shopping. Results vary with time, nature, and target of the interview, and so the entire process can be manipulated to inflate revenue estimates and, accordingly, hide the net error.

While no Turkish government or banking official can or will disclose the origin of the more than $5 billion which has entered the system since the AKP took power, several Turkish officials suggest that such money could only come from wealthy Arab countries like Saudi Arabia where Gül for so long lived. Simply put, remittances from Germany have dried up, and smuggling from Iraq and Iran cannot account for an increase in net error of more than 2,600 percent.[...]While it is impossible to find a detailed accounting of the unofficial economy, some Turkish economists suggest that the influx of money might have to do with Saudi and other Persian Gulf citizens' liquidation of their U.S. holdings in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.[...] Several current and former Turkish officials suggested that AKP advisors Korkut Özal and Cuneyd Zapsu are involved in managing the green money influx. Korkut Özal, the younger brother of Turgut Özal (prime minister, 1983-89; president, 1989-93), is the leading Turkish shareholder in Al-Baraka Finance, perhaps Turkey's leading Islamic bank, and Faisal Finance, which also has roots in Saudi Arabia.[...]

Like Korkut Özal, Zapsu eschews the limelight, although several Turkish and American media reports from the time of the AKP victory identify him as one of Erdoğan's chief advisors. Zapsu maintains a moderate face and portrays Erdoğan as a moderate as well. "Everyone knows Tayyip Erdoğan is not a shariat [Islamic law] guy anymore," he told the New York Times a day after the AKP's election victory. But some of Zapsu's relations suggest his convictions lie elsewhere. On October 27, 2001, Hürriyet reported that Zapsu was the business partner of Yasin al-Qadi, whose assets were frozen by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control because of links to Al-Qaeda. Erdoğan cannot be held accountable for the faulty judgment of an aide, but in a global war on terrorism, such close links between his advisor and a terrorist financier are cause for concern.[...]

Some Turkish professional bureaucrats, businessmen, journalists, and even politicians raised the question of Saudi money flowing into AKP coffers through green money business intermediaries. "The problem is Saudi Arabia. If you solve that, then our problem is solved," one independent parliamentarian told me at his office in the Grand National Assembly. A former member of the AKP concurred: "Before the 2002 election, there were rumors that an AKP victory would lead to an infusion of $10-$20 billion, mostly from Saudi Arabia. It looks like the rumors came true."

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