January 2, 2014 | PRI
The World
The Turkish government was shaken by a political scandal this week. Three ministers resigned after being accused of financial corruption and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was forced to reshuffle his cabinet.
On Friday, protesters were in the streets demanding that Erdogan resign. Police responding by shooting rubber bullets.
Jonathan Schanzer believes that a “gas for gold” deal with Iran lies at the center of the new scandal in Turkey. Schanzer is a former Treasury Department analyst who is now with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, DC. He says the reason for the resignations is unclear, but at least one Iranian gold trader, Reza Zarrab, has been arrested along with the CEO of the state-run Halkbank. Both are tied to the sanctions-busting “gas for gold” scheme uncovered last year. That scheme allowed Iran to bring in $13 billion in gold over a year.