Turkey police summon FBI official

Turkish police summoned a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) official yesterday over statements made in a US court by a former Turkish police investigator who fled the country last year, the Anadolu Agency said.

Anadolu said the FBI official was summoned following testimony given by Huseyin Korkmaz in the trial of a former executive at Turkish state-run bank Halkbank, who is charged with taking part in a scheme to help Iran evade US sanctions.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert confirmed that an FBI attache at the US Embassy “had been brought in to the Turkish ministry”. She provided no details.

The former bank executive, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, has pleaded not guilty. Halkbank has denied involvement with any illegal transactions.

Korkmaz told jurors in a New York on Monday that he fled Turkey in 2016 out of fear of retaliation from the government after leading a corruption investigation involving high-ranking officials. He said he took his evidence with him.

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Korkmaz said he had received $50,000 from the FBI and financial assistance from US prosecutors for his rental payments.

The FBI declined to comment yesterday.

Turkish police said they could not immediately comment on the report that they had summoned an official from the US agency.

A spokesman for the US embassy in Ankara said the embassy was aware of the report but had no immediate comment.