Top U.S. Treasury official in Turkey: "The day may come when Iran is open for business, but the day is not today."

Top U.S. Treasury official in Turkey: "The day may come when Iran is open for business, but the day is not today."(HD).

The United States’ top Treasury official has warned companies to “hold off” on doing business in Iran because many of the sanctions against the country are still in place despite an interim nuclear deal.

U.S. Treasury Undersecretary David Cohen, who visited Turkey to discuss the implementation of the Joint Plan of Action (JPOA) agreed to by the P5+1 group, the European Union and Iran, said a significant portion of sanctions against Iran remained, including in the banking, energy and shipping sanctions.

“Iran is not open for business,” Cohen said, speaking to a small group of reporters after a meeting with Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu in Ankara.

“Businesses interested in engaging in Iran really should hold off. The day may come when Iran is open for business, but the day is not today.”

Turkey has expressed hopes that the easing of sanctions against Iran will open business opportunities, especially in the energy sector. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was also scheduled to travel to Iran on Jan. 28.

Turkey imports gas and oil from Iran but the Turkish oil refiner, Tüpraş, was forced to reduce its Iranian oil purchases due to the sanctions.

Cohen also said he expected Turkey’s state-run banking institution, Halkbank, to continue processing oil payments to Iran.

“Halkbank has for some time been involved in handling oil payments for importing oil from Iran into Turkey and we expect that to continue,” Cohen said. “We talked more broadly about sanctions [...] on the banking sector so that there is good clarity on the scope of sanctions that remain in effect.” 


Turkey had repeatedly asserted Halkbank, whose chief executive was arrested in connection with the graft investigation, is to continue mediating Turkey’s gas and oil payments to Iran, claiming the dealings with Iran are lawful.

The transfer of gold and money to Iran via Halkbank has been under scrutiny as part of the corruption investigation launched on Dec. 17, 2013, charging businessman Reza Zarrab with forming a ring that bribed officials, including Halkbank chief executive Süleyman Aslan, to help disguise illegal gold sales, former Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan and former Interior Minister Muammer Güler.

Video - Fethullah Gulen Denies Links With Turkish Corruption Scandal in BBC interview.

Video - Fethullah Gulen Denies Links With Turkish Corruption Scandal in BBC interview.More here at BBC.

Senior US diplomat to visit Turkey to discuss Iran nuclear deal.

Senior US diplomat to visit Turkey to discuss Iran nuclear deal.(Taz).

U.S. Department of the Treasury ha announced Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen will travel to Turkey and the United Arab Emirates regarding the implementation of sanctions against Iran.

“Cohen is traveling to Turkey and the UAE this week to discuss the implementation of the Joint Plan of Action (JPOA) agreed to by the P5+1, the European Union and Iran. Undersecretary Cohen will discuss the limited and temporary sanctions relief provided under the JPOA and continued enforcement of existing international economic sanctions against Iran” the U.S. Department of the Treasury said in a statement.

An interim six-month agreement with the P5+1, the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, was agreed upon in November and took effect last week. The deal requires Tehran to freeze or curb its nuclear activities for six months in exchange for some sanction relief, while the two sides try to reach a comprehensive agreement.

Cohen’s last visit to Turkey was in December 2013 and he warned Turkey in 2011 about trading with Iran.Hmmm....As if Obama's BFF Erdogan cares about sanctions.....keep dreaming America.

Top US economic expert Ian Bremmer: "Turkey is not an emerging market, They've got a leader who needs to be out.”

Top US economic expert Ian Bremmer : "Turkey is not an emerging market, They've got a leader who needs to be out."(Almonitor).

I don’t think Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan knows Ian Bremmer. He may therefore not have heard the former US Treasury Secretary and Harvard University professor Lawrence Summers when he stated, "The global economy has no sharper or more prescient analyst than Ian Bremmer.’’

But Erdogan may have heard of Eurasia Group, which Bremmer founded and leads. On the other hand, Ali Babacan, who participated at the Davos meetings and who is best described as “if not Turkey’s economic czar, the deputy prime minister in charge of economic affairs,” knows both Bremmer and Eurasia Group.

The quickest way to define the Eurasia Group would be to note its reputation as the world’s largest and most prestigious political risk consultancy. Every January, Eurasia Group releases a list of the “Top 10 Risks” for the coming year. Bremmer, speaking on a Wall Street Journal video feed from Davos on Jan. 22, made assessments about Turkey even scarier than being on the “Top 10 Risks” list.

He agreed with the Wall Street Journal anchor's prediction that Turkey will be "a big story this year” as one of the “hot spots in the Middle East.” He added, "It wouldn't just be this year; it's probably next [year] as well."

What he said next should be considered drastic for Turkey:

“Turkey is not an emerging market right now, in the sense that it is not developing. They've had decades of actually putting their political institutions together, making them more consolidated. They're now stripping them apart. They're taking legitimacy out of the judiciary, out of the police forces, and it’s making it much more uncertain an environment for investors to want to be in.”

It should indeed be shocking for a country such as Turkey — which was being called one of “pivotal states” of the world and which, with the contribution of Richard Holbrooke, had assumed the mantle of an "emerging regional power" far beyond an "emerging market” — to be defined as “not an emerging market right now.”

The fact that this determination was made by the head of the world’s largest political risk consultancy, and that there are many in the international arena who would heed him, makes it particularly important.

Worse, Bremmer offers a treatment related to this diagnosis and says of Turkey: “They've got a leader who needs to be out.”

It is probable that Erdogan, the "leader who needs to be out," would pour out his entire venomous wrath onto Bremmer if he knew him.

Muharrem Yilmaz, president of TUSIAD, an association of industrialists and businessmen that serves as an effective lobbying group in Turkey, is not as lucky as Bremmer.  Hmmmm......More like a 'Turkish bazaar' listening to all the 'plots and treason' talk.Read the full story here.