The Greek Current

The extradition cases that could expose Turkey and Venezuela's collusion to evade US sanctions

Episode Summary

Aykan Erdemir joins The Greek Current to looks into the connections between Turkey and Venezuela and how Erdogan's Turkey has helped the Maduro regime in Venezuela evade US sanctions. We also look at US efforts to extradite Alex Saab, who was indicted or facilitating sanctions evasion, and Sezgin Baran Korkmaz, a Turkish money laundering suspect, that could potentially help expose a web of Iranian, Turkish, and Venezuelan illicit financial dealings.

Episode Notes

A constitutional court in Cape Verde has issued a recent ruling that would pave the way for the extradition of Alex Saab, a Colombian-born businessman indicted in 2019 for facilitating sanctions evasion and bribery schemes by the Maduro regime in Venezuela. His extradition from Cape Verde, combined with ongoing US efforts to extradite a Turkish money laundering suspect from Austria, could help expose a web of Iranian, Turkish, and Venezuelan illicit financial dealings. Aykan Erdemir joins our host Thanos Davelis to look at the connections between Turkey and Venezuela, Erdogan’s defiance of US sanctions against Venezuela, and why these two extradition cases will be critical to follow moving forward.

Dr. Aykan Erdemir is the senior director of the Turkey program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former Turkish lawmaker. He is also a frequent contributor to debates on illicit finance and sanctions evasion.

Read Aykan Erdemir’s latest policy briefs for the FDD: Businessman’s Extradition to U.S. Could Expose Turkish-Venezuelan Collusion to Evade Sanctions

U.S. Should Intensify Efforts to Extradite Turkish Money Laundering Suspect

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