Turkey's Halkbank defends 'transparent' operations

By Bahattin Gonultas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish lender Halkbank has said all its foreign trade transactions -- including those with Iran -- were "open", "transparent" and "observable".

In a statement late on Thursday, the bank said news “discrediting” its operations and misleading the public had been circulating since the arrest of one of its senior executives in the U.S. earlier this week.

Thursday’s statement came four days after the bank’s deputy general manager, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, was detained in New York on charges of conspiring to evade trade sanctions on Iran.

Halkbank said its operations and transactions fully complied with national and international regulations.

The lender did not use “any mechanisms, methods or systems other than regulations and foreign trade practices known and followed by all other banks," it said.

Halkbank also said its activities, including operations and transactions, were regularly audited.

The Turkish state lender stressed it had not intermediated in any transaction in which a prohibited party, person or goods or services had been involved.

"It is obvious that the situation of our bank, which has not been subject to any sanction due to any transaction until today, should be appreciated," it added.

- ‘Nothing to do with our bank’

Halkbank said the allegations consisted of claims filed between 17 and 25 Dec. 2013 which were a “treasonous” plot by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) against Turkish government ministers and businesspeople.

These had “nothing to do with our bank,” the lender said.

Halkbank said Mehmet Hakan Atilla had made seven business trips to the U.S. between 2014 and 2017.

"Atilla held talks with a host of international financial institutions and senior executive officials. At this juncture, his detention at the airport while he was returning from his last travel is meaningful," it said.

"[The] judicial process on the arrest of our Deputy General Manager in charge of International Banking has been followed closely by both our bank and the relevant authorities of our State,” Halkbank said and promised legal action over “speculative” reports about the case which may have affected the institution’s activities.

Halkbank will continue its operations in accordance with national and international regulations without any exceptions both today and in the future as it was in the past, it added.