"State Sponsor of Terrorism?" - Protecting al-Qaeda may come with a big price tag for Turkey.

"State Sponsor of Terrorism?" - Protecting al-Qaeda may come with a big price tag for Turkey.(TZ).

Amid allegations that Turkey helped Saudi businessman Yasin al-Qadi, who is listed by the US Treasury as a “specially designated global terrorist,” to evade United Nations sanctions Turkey may have to deal with an image of a country that supports terrorism and ignores international law.

Al-Qadi has entered Turkey multiple times escorted by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's protective detail without a passport or visa, although his entry into the country was banned by a Cabinet decision, the Taraf daily reported in late December.

According to Taraf, Saudi businessman al-Qadi illegally entered Turkey four times between February 2012 and October 2012.

“The interesting thing about the al-Qadi issue is that when he was first designated, his front companies were all based in Turkey … and he had quite a bit of operations on Turkish soil,” said Dr. Jonathan Schanzer, a former terrorism finance analyst at the US Department of the Treasury, who is now vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, according to a report by Business Insider.

"We don't know exactly what the relationship is with al-Qadi, but we know that his problems started in Turkey," Schanzer said. "It's very hard to look at this right now without remembering that and asking the question: Has he remained active in Turkey through this time?"

According to the report, members of the US Congress or the State Department or the Treasury could even be forced to consider labeling Turkey a state sponsor of terrorism.

“No one wants to do that, but the letter of the law is getting harder and harder to ignore that they might qualify,” Schanzer said, adding that “if left unchecked, this could be become a serious problem.”

Amid the allegations of Erdoğan having close relations with al-Qadi, Erdoğan has said: “Yasin al-Qadi is a Saudi businessman who loves Turkey and wants to invest in this country. He has no connection with al-Qaeda. He has been acquitted of all accusations made against him. Is it a crime to meet with this person who wants to make a huge amount of investment in Turkey?”

Erdoğan has been also quoted as saying: “I know al-Qadi. I believe in him as I believe in myself. For al-Qadi to associate with a terrorist organization, or support one, is impossible.”Hmmm....Can we now speak of "StateSponsor of Terrorism"?Read the full story here.

Related:

Obama's BFF Erdogan's Turkey Risks “Grave Consequences” Under U.S. Law for Sheltering Top Hamas Terrorist.