Looking out: Investigation

There has been a movement in Robert Mueller's investigation recently that is moving the focus away from Russia and toward Turkey. In March 2016, Reza Zarrab, a Turkish-Iranian businessman, was arrested in the United States. The charges mainly concerned evading the U.S. sanctions on Iran by using the gold trade. However, the more important aspect of Zarrab’s arrest for the Erdogan regime in Turkey was his involvement in and knowledge of government corruption. His personal ties to Erdogan and his confidantes have made Zarrab a liability to Turkey.

Many anti-corruption advocates were overjoyed by his arrest. So much so that the prosecuting attorney, Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York, has become a famous and admired figure in Turkey. He gained hundreds of thousands of Turkish Twitter followers in a short amount of time, many thanking him for his work, which they hope will shed light on deep corruption in Turkey. The corruption case Zarrab is involved in extends to many current and former Turkish ministers, making this a top priority for the country.

Until this point, the case was a thorn in Turkish-American relations and the Turkish government desperately wanted this to go away. Enter Michael Flynn. Flynn was a Donald Trump campaign adviser and his first (though short-lived) National Security Advisor. Though he was in such a high position of power in the administration, he had until recently been a lobbyist for the Turkish government, earning himself more than half a million dollars. His close contact with Turkey, his lucrative lobbying, and the fact that he did not register as a foreign agent when he acted as one for Turkey all raised red flags. In addition, eyebrows were raised over the fact that while he was advising Trump, Trump decided to fire prosecutor Preet Bharara, who has been charged with conspiracy in Turkish court this past week. Then, piling onto all this has been the explosive news that Flynn was in the midst of arranging a deal to hand over Fetullah Gulen, a green card holder based in the Poconos in Pennsylvania, to Turkey for $15 million. Turkey has been pushing for the extradition of Gulen, the leader of an Islamic order and likely culprit of the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey.

The other shoe finally dropped this week. Zarrab, in jail and on trial for the past year, was released. He was released because he is not a criminal under investigation, but rather an informant for the prosecution on a much larger case: that concerning Michael Flynn. The Flynn case is part of the larger investigation by Robert Mueller concerning the foreign dealings of members of the Trump administration. Now, this case has come to include Turkey in a major way, enough that this news has rocked Turkish media. The government is extremely concerned about Reza Zarrab being an informant for a U.S. investigation for fear that it might bring to light details of corruption scandals that shook Turkey in 2013. Turkey will be taking more steps to calm the situation, but for now, the Russia investigation is also the Turkey investigation.