This is breaking news from Kurt Eichenwald coming in Newsweek tomorrow, on Rachel Maddow….
“Now Newsweek reports that Turkey has figured out how to turn that to their advantage and how to put the president of the United States over a barrel in the process,” Maddow explained. “On December 1st, the top representative of the Doğan company, in Turkey’s capital city, got arrested by the Turkish police. Again, Trump as president-elect had taken an official call from the Turkish president and used that occasion to tell the Turkish president how much this one particular company meant to him, going so far as to name specific executives.”
According to Maddow, President Erdoğan had the founder of the Doğan Holding, as well as an executive arrested on “threadbare” charges that both were involved in an attempted military coup that happened in turkey this past summer.
Maddow then got to the heart of the matter.
“Turkey desperately wants the U.S. government to extradite an imam [Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen],” Maddow explained. “They [the U.S.] have said that they are not extraditing him. But if that’s what you wanted, what if you could squeeze the personal financial interests of the American president as a way to get what you want from the American government?” From Raw Story (includes video of Maddow show
Trump Towers Istanbul
Trump Towers Istanbul are two conjoined towers in Şişli, Istanbul, Turkey. One of the towers is an office tower, and the other a residential tower, consisting of over 200 residences. The complex also holds a shopping mall with some 80 shops and a multiplex cinema. They are the first Trump Towers built in Europe. The property developer is Turkish billionaire Aydın Doğan, in a license-partnership with American businessman Donald Trump. The complex is considered to be one of the most prominent in Istanbul. Many businesses based in Europe and the Middle East occupy the complex.
The residential tower includes the only collective wine cellar in Turkey, with a capacity of 16,800 bottles. The cellar is built by Focus Wine Cellars.
Among the buildings' prominent tenants is Iranian-born businessman Reza Zarrab.
Trump name controversy
The Turkish owner of Trump Towers Istanbul, who pays Trump for the use of his name, was reported in December 2015 to be exploring legal means to dissociate the property after the candidate's call to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. In June 2016, Turkish President Erdogan has been reported to call for the removal of the Trump name from the towers, saying "[Trump] has no tolerance for Muslims living in the US. And on top of that they used a brand in [Istanbul] with his name. The ones who put that brand on their building should immediately remove it."
In December 2015, Trump stated in a radio interview that he had a "conflict of interest" in dealing with Turkey because of his property, saying "I have a little conflict of interest, because I have a major, major building in Istanbul ... It’s called Trump Towers. Two towers, instead of one. Not the usual one, it’s two. And I’ve gotten to know Turkey very well.” from en.wikipedia.org/...
More on Muhammet Fethullah Gülen:
Extradition request. U.S.-Turkey tensions — Wikipedia
Shortly after the botched coup attempt of 15 July 2016, the Turkish government claimed that the coup attempt had been organized by Gülen and/or his movement. Turkish prime minister Binali Yıldırım in late July 2016 told The Guardian: "Of course, since the leader of this terrorist organisation is residing in the United States, there are question marks in the minds of the people whether there is any U.S. involvement or backing. So America from this point on should really think how they will continue to cooperate with Turkey, which is a strategic ally for them in the region and world."[63]Gülen, who denied any involvement in the coup attempt and denounced it,[64] has in turn accused Erdoğan of "turning a failed putsch into a slow-motion coup of his own against constitutional government."[65] On 19 July, the Turkish prime minister stated that an official request had been sent to the U.S. for the extradition of Fethullah Gulen: “We have sent four dossiers to the United States for the extradition of the terrorist chief."[66] On the same day, the White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that president Obama had earlier in the day had a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart and the "status of Mr. Gülen was discussed on the call"; he further elaborated on the extradition issue:
"I can tell you that also earlier this morning, separate from the phone call, there were materials presented by the Turkish government in electronic form to the U.S. government related to Mr. Gülen's status. And the Department of Justice and the Department of State will review those materials, consistent with the requirements of the extradition treaty between the United States and Turkey that's been on the books for more than 30 years now. But the President also made clear a couple of other things. The first is that the United States doesn't support terrorists. The United States doesn't support individuals who conspire to overthrow democratically elected governments. The United States follows the rule of law. And as it relates to Mr. Gülen's status, there is a process that is established in the extradition treaty that we will follow. There also is due process to which people who live in the United States are entitled. And we'll make sure that that due process is followed as well. The decision about Mr. Gülen's status and the decision to extradite him is not a decision that is made by the President of the United States. It is a legal decision that is made pursuant to a legal process, part of which is codified in a longstanding treaty between the United States and Turkey. So that's the process that we'll follow. Again, I can't say definitively at this point that a formal request has been made. We're still reviewing the materials that were submitted by the Turkish government, and we'll do that consistent with the process that's been established both in U.S. law and in the extradition treaty between the United States and Turkey."[67]
At the end of July, the Turkish prime minister in his interview with The Wall Street Journal expressed frustration over the perceived lack of support on the part of the U.S. administration regarding the extradition request saying that the evidence against Gülen was "crystal clear".[68] On 4 August 2016, the U.S. State Department said it had received what would amount to a formal extradition request as well as documents purported to be the incriminating evidence and was "in the process of going through those documents".[69][70] According to senior U.S. officials, the evidence only pertained to certain alleged pre-coup criminal activity.[71] U.S. Vice president Joe Biden intends to visit Turkey on August 24 2016, and the Gülen extradition request will be on top of the agenda.[72] Ahead of the visit, Erdogan has requested that Gülen be placed under temporary arrest.[73]
Besides, the Turkish government reportedly sought to pressure a number of foreign governments into shutting down schools and medical facilities allegedly associated with the Gülen movement including in Somalia, Germany, Indonesia, Nigeria and Kenya.[74] In Somalia, two large schools and a hospital linked to the movement have been shut down following a request by the Turkish administration.[75] Albania and Bosnia have also seen requests by Turkey to close or investigate Gulen linked schools.[76]