US should reconsider sense of justice, Erdogan says

By Sibel Kurtoglu

ANKARA (AA) - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday slammed the recent U.S. verdict in a case involving Turkish banker Mehmet Hakan Atilla, saying the U.S. should reconsider its sense of justice.

"If this is the U.S.' sense of justice, then yes, the world is toast. The U.S. must reconsider its sense of justice," Erdogan told reporters at Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport ahead of his departure for France.

"There can be no such sense of justice, and then they try to teach the world justice," he added.

On Wednesday, a jury in New York found Atilla, the 47-year-old former deputy chief executive officer of Turkey's public lender Halkbank, guilty on five counts related to conspiracy and bank fraud but acquitted him of a money laundering charge.

The verdict by a panel of six men and six women came after more than three weeks of testimonies and four days of deliberation.

The counts on which the banker was declared guilty included violation of U.S. sanctions against Iran, crimes to deceive the U.S. and defrauding U.S. banks.