Breaking news! In the statement made by Halkbank, “Our Bank, which has been serving our country’s economy for 88 years, will continue its activities in a strong, reliable and uninterrupted manner, in accordance with all national and international regulations, today and in the future, as in the past, and will continue to contribute to the growth of both the banking sector and the country’s economy.” It was said.

In the statement sent from Halkbank to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP), the following was noted:

Regarding the criminal case filed against our Bank in the USA on October 15, 2019, our Bank’s Board of Directors decided to sign a “Deferred Prosecution Agreement” (DPA) between the US Department of Justice Southern New York District Attorney’s Office (US Southern District of New York) and our Bank in order to end the case through compromise.

“NO PENALTY WILL BE PAID”

Within the scope of the said settlement agreement, our Bank will not accept any criminal offenses and will not pay any judicial or administrative fines. After the compliance report prepared by an expert organization is delivered to the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and a copy to the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York; Halkbank and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York will submit a joint letter to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissing the case.

“THE LAWSUIT PROCESS THAT HAS BEEN ONGOING FOR 9 YEARS IS ENDING”

With the approval of the court, the criminal case against our Bank in the USA, which has been going on for approximately 9 years, will come to an end. However, OFAC informed us that it closed the administrative processes regarding Halkbank without taking any further action. With this development, it is expected that our Bank’s financial structure will be positively affected by the expansion of its foreign sourcing opportunities, correspondent network and access to international markets.

Our Bank, which has been serving our country’s economy for 88 years, will continue its activities in a strong, reliable and uninterrupted manner, in accordance with all national and international regulations, today and in the future, as in the past, and will continue to contribute to the growth of both the banking sector and the country’s economy.

In his telephone conversation with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian stated that the two countries could establish a joint investigation team to eliminate the allegations about missiles coming from Iran towards Türkiye.

Masoud Pezeshkiyan, in his meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, stated that Israel and the USA were trying to create a conflict between Iran and neighboring countries, and that media outlets affiliated with them made claims that Iran carried out a missile attack on Türkiye.

In the statement made by the Directorate of Communications, the following was noted:

Our President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, had a telephone conversation with Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkiyan, upon the request of the other party.

During the meeting, our President stated that there is a need to open the door to diplomacy and that Türkiye is making efforts to ensure this.

President Erdoğan stated that we do not find it right to unlawful interventions against Iran and Iran’s targeting of brother countries in our region, on the contrary, targeting brother countries is not beneficial to anyone and these should be stopped.

“Türkiye WILL CONTINUE TO TAKE ALL PRECAUTIONS”

Our President emphasized that Türkiye has been negatively affected by conflicts to which it is not a party, that the violation of our airspace, for whatever reason, cannot be excused and that Türkiye will continue to take all necessary measures against it.

During the meeting, our President expressed to Pezeşkiyan that we are deeply saddened by the loss of life, especially the children killed in the school attack in Menab.

Reiterating his condolences for Iranian Religious Leader Ali Khamenei, President Erdoğan expressed his hope that the election of Mojtaba Khamenei as the new Religious Leader will lead to peace in the region.

Pezeşkiyan also said that the missiles entering Turkish airspace did not originate from Iran and that they would conduct a comprehensive investigation on the issue.

According to the statement made by the Ministry, Gürlek met with citizens within the scope of the “Fireside Chat” program organized by the AK Party Istanbul Provincial Directorate for Ramadan.

Addressing the young people in the program, Gürlek stated that young people will leave their mark on the Turkish Century.

Emphasizing that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a great leader and that Türkiye continues to exist as a safe country despite the wars in the region, Gürlek touched upon the importance of unity and solidarity.

Minister Akın Gürlek said, “Regardless of our views, ideas, political thoughts, we need to be united on the home front. We need to be one punch, one voice, one breath. We need to turn our direction to Ankara. Our political views may be different, our thoughts may be different, but the war is one step away from us. Our President is currently carrying out the process calmly.” made his assessment.

Pointing out that President Erdoğan has been meeting with world leaders from the very beginning of the process, Gürlek stated that they believe that the process will end with President Erdoğan’s common sense and coolness.

“NEVER DARK YOUR EXCITEMENT AND PERSISTENCE”

To the young people, “You are the hope of this country.” Minister Gürlek said:

“Never tarnish your excitement and determination. Our nation always needs you. I hope you will never lose your unity, solidarity and trust.”

Minister of Justice Gürlek also answered questions from young people in the program attended by Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin.

In the written statement made by the Ministry, the following statements were made:

“Within the scope of the latest developments in our region, 6 F-16 fighter jets and air defense systems have been deployed to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as of today, within the framework of gradual planning to increase the security of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Additional measures will continue to be taken if necessary, as a result of the evaluations to be made according to the developments.”

F-16 PROTECTION FROM Türkiye TO TRNC

TRNC Civil Aviation Department Deputy Director Aşkın Meşeli announced that 6 warplanes sent by the Turkish Air Force would reach the island in the morning. Meşeli stated that the shipment in question will not affect civilian flights. In their previous statement, Ministry of National Defense (MSB) sources stated that, within the scope of the latest developments, the deployment of F-16 warplanes to the island was evaluated in order to ensure the security of the TRNC.

‘WE CAME FOR OUR BROTHER’ SHARE FROM MSB

The F-16s deployed in TRNC were shared on the virtual media account of the Ministry of National Defense with the note “We came for our brother.” The post included a photo of an F-16 fighter jet in the sky and a person holding the Turkish flag and the TRNC flag in his hands.

Breaking news | 6 F-16s deployed to TRNC | Video

Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office completed the IMM corruption investigation on November 11 and prepared a huge 3,806-page indictment against a total of 407 suspects, 107 of whom were detained and 7 of whom were caught. Bribery and corruption in 143 actions were described as causing a public loss of 161 billion.

UP TO 2 THOUSAND 352 YEARS OF PRISON WAS REQUESTED FOR 16 CRIMES

In the indictment, Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was held responsible for 142 actions as the leader of the organization, was accused of “establishing an organization for the purpose of committing a crime”, “recording personal data”, “seizing and disseminating personal data”, “concealing criminal evidence”, “obstructing communication”, “damaging public property”, “bribery”, “publicly disseminating misleading information”, “extortion”, “fraud to the detriment of public institutions and organizations”, “devaluation of assets resulting from crime”. Up to 2,352 years of imprisonment was requested for the crimes of “laundering”, “tender rigging”, “deliberate pollution of the environment”, and violation of the Tax Procedure Law, Forest Law and Mining Law.

MANAGERS AND MEMBERS

Fatih Keleş, Murat Ongun, Ertan Yıldız, Murat Gülibrahimoğlu, Adem Soytekin and Hüseyin Gün were the managers of the organization. Suspects who are members of the organization include Yakup Öner, Emrah Bağdatlı, Resul Emrah Şahan, Necati Özkan, Tuncay Yılmaz, Mustafa Akın, Mehmet Pehlivan, Seza Büyükçulha, Hüseyin Köksal, Ali Nuhoğlu, Ali Sukas, İbrahim Bülbüllü and Melih Geçek.

VICTIM AND CUSTOMERS

The Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Turkey, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Turkey, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Republic of Turkey, the Provincial Directorate of Environment and Urbanization of Istanbul, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and the Municipality of Şişli were listed as those damaged by the crime. While Adem Kameroğlu, Mustafa Keleş, Muzaffer Beyaz, Seyfi Beyaz and Mehmet Torun are included in the indictment as both complainants and suspects, the 16 complainants are Alaattin Kameroğlu, Avni Çelik, Fatih Erdoğan, Kaan Yücel, Murat Özyeğin, Sedat Kapıdağ, Abdulkerim Fırat, İlker Keleş, Münir Özkök, Nezih Barut, Salahattin Özgül, Ziya Yılmaz, Çetin Gül, Mehmet İlhan, Bahattin Uçar, Serbülend Danış took part.

TRIAL HAS STARTED

Before the hearing to be held by the Istanbul 40th High Criminal Court in the hall opposite the Marmara Closed Penal Institution, a security check was carried out by gendarmerie teams in and around the hall. It is envisaged that the hearing will begin with the identification of the defendants, including Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was suspended from his duty after his arrest, and continue with the reading of the summary of the indictment.

THEY TOOK THEIR PLACE IN THE DEFENDANT’S CHAIR

The arrested defendants, including Ekrem İmamoğlu, suspended Şişli Mayor Resul Emrah Şahan and Beylikdüzü Mayor Mehmet Murat Çalık, former CHP Deputy Aykut Erdoğdu, İBB President Advisor and MEDYA AŞ Chairman Murat Ongun, İBB Sports Club President Fatih Keleş and İmamoğlu’s lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan, Dilek İmamoğlu’s older brother Cevat Kaya, were released from prison. was brought. Some unarrested defendants, including İmamoğlu’s son Selim İmamoğlu and his father Hasan İmamoğlu, artist Ercan Saatçi, Ertan Yıldız, Mahir Polat, took their place in the hall. Defendants Hüseyin Gün and CHP Assembly member Baki Aydöner were connected via Audio and Video Information System (SEGBİS).

HEARINGS WILL BE HELD FOUR DAYS A WEEK

On the other hand, within the scope of the case to be heard by the first panel of the court, hearings are planned to be held 4 days a week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, until the end of April.

PHOTOGRAPHS AND VIDEOS SHOOTING ARE PROHIBITED

In line with the decision taken by the Silivri District Governorate, actions such as meetings and demonstrations, press releases, banners, banners, banners, chanting slogans, setting up tents, opening stands, coming to the courtroom area with clothes written or with symbols on them, taking photographs and videos within a one-kilometer area starting from the courtroom surroundings, prison visitor parking lot and the prison campus wire fence border are prohibited until March 31.

Regarding Türkiye’s sending of 6 F-16 warplanes to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), AK Party Deputy Chairman and Party Spokesperson Ömer Çelik said, “Naturally, in terms of our rights and interests there, it is quite normal for us to take these steps to further consolidate the balance of forces in order to ensure the security of the TRNC. This is not a step taken against anyone. It is something taken to reinforce the security perspective.” he said.

Çelik answered questions regarding the agenda on a private television channel:

Evaluating the attacks of the USA and Israel against Iran, Çelik said that this was one of the most terrible wars in known political history. Çelik stated that there is no fair or legal basis for the USA and Israel to attack Iran in this way and said, “Iran is being targeted with an attitude that we call direct aggression and barbarism. Of course, while a diplomacy table had been established with Iran on the main issue of nuclear negotiations, after the first and second meetings, it was time to hold the third meeting in Vienna. Everyone was preparing for that meeting, meanwhile, these brutal attacks were carried out by America and Israel against Iran.” he said.

ALSO MENTIONING THE RESULTS OF THIS, ÇELİK CONTINUED AS FOLLOWS:

“Of course, this has the following consequence. Who should set the table of diplomacy from now on and why? In fact, the essence of diplomacy is something established to prevent war, to prevent the costs of war from causing any problems for anyone or humanity. When this is removed, there is nothing to talk about other than brute force and force. The second issue is about the phenomenon we call world order. We have been talking for a very long time that the seams of the world order established after the Second World War were starting to strain due to various events and that it needed to be updated. But we can say this clearly now. With this incident “There is no such thing as ‘order’ anymore. We cannot talk about updating the order, because there is no order, there is nothing to update.”

AK Party Deputy Chairman and Party Spokesperson Çelik explained that “two countries targeting another country unfairly, unlawfully, aggressively and brutally through force means the disappearance of the concept of order and rule as they know it.” Çelik stated that there are also subheadings to this and said, “For example, it says ‘We are doing this to demand regime change.’ Now, if another country declares war on every country whose regime it does not like, then there will not be even a square meter of peaceful space left in the world because of the regime. “Everywhere will turn into a bloodbath.” made his assessment. In response to a question about Christian clergy touching and praying for US President Donald Trump in the White House while the US and Israel’s attack on Iran continues, Çelik stated that war cannot be blessed with prayer.

“IF IT WERE HOSTED BY OUR PRESIDENT, THE WEIGHT OF THIS TABLE WOULD BE DIFFERENT”

Çelik answered the question about whether there would be different results if the negotiations were hosted by Turkey as follows: “An academic friend of ours made the following assessment: ‘It’s a good thing it didn’t happen in Türkiye. It would be very troublesome if something like this happened when the negotiation table was set up in Türkiye.’ A second opinion was also expressed there, and I am in favor of the second opinion we will say now. ‘No, if it were in Istanbul, in Türkiye, if it were hosted by our President, the weight of this table would be different. Because Türkiye is a country that sets a table in the Ukraine-Russia War, a country that sets a table in various crisis regions of the world, and a country that receives the support of all parties on these issues. Of course, we cannot know this now, but of course the gravity of this would definitely be different.”

“NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO ATTACK A COUNTRY FOR REGIME CHANGE”

Çelik stated that the Assembly of Experts in Iran respects the will of the Iranian state and people regarding the election of his son Mojtaba Khamenei to the leadership post after Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the US-Israeli air strike on February 28, said: “It is a very radical policy change, ‘Policy changes depending on whether the religious leader is this or that person.’ “This may also mean not knowing much about Iran, or not knowing much about the Iranian state architecture and functioning.” he said. Çelik made the following assessment regarding the discussions that Trump did not have a strategy for how to get out of this war when he started it:

“What is reflected here, of course, is not official information. At first, the US seemed to be taking an approach focused on targeting the top level of Iran and destroying Iran’s missile capacity. Israel, on the other hand, was putting forward an approach that targeted the total regime, nuclear issues, missile capacity and, moreover, the entire state architecture of Iran. No one has the right to attack a country for regime change. In other words, Israel, in its own mind, was trying to shape the regime of the countries around it as a Zionist, murderous, genocidal state.” We see that he is trying to destroy their defense capacity. But beyond that, there is something like this: Attacking a country just for its regime or because that country does not have the right to defense is the very act of barbarism and aggression.

“THE WHOLE IRANIAN PEOPLE ARE BEING PUNISHED”

Therefore, all these arguments actually show that the issue is not settled. When the refinery in Tehran is hit, fire rains down on the people. When the leadership capacity there is destroyed, you see, various separatist movements begin to mobilize. Therefore, the Iranian people as a whole are being punished. Iran is a great country, it has an ancient culture, and we expressed this here before this war. No one can deny that Iran has some problems. But it needs to be solved within its own dynamics. There are no consequences for barbaric aggression like what America and Israel are currently doing. This has been tried in Afghanistan, it has been tried elsewhere. “Especially some evaluations such as a land operation lead to much more terrible consequences.”

“EXTENSIONS OF THE ZIONIST LOBBY IN THE WEST”

Underlining that Israel has no right or law to change the map of the Middle East, Çelik said, “Our President said, ‘The world is bigger than five.’ His words were heard a lot in the United Nations (UN), and he is also very well known in Türkiye. But now it is better understood how important his other words are. He showed the map many times from the UN rostrum and said, ‘I ask those who are listening to us at the UN and the world. What are Israel’s borders? Now, can the borders of a state be unclear? If the region and the global order are under threat today, it is Israel that threatens it. “It is these policies of the Netanyahu government that endanger the security of Jews all over the world.” he said. Çelik pointed out that those who first started to mention Turkey and Israel in the context of a conflict and a possible war were actually “extensions of the Zionist lobby in the West.”

“Türkiye HAS NO AFRAID FROM ANYONE”

Stating that they do not have an aggressive attitude towards any country, Çelik said: “We are on the side of peace, not war. We are on the side of diplomacy, not brute force. Thank God, we have had a total preparation for years, from the state of our defense industry to the preparations of the Turkish Armed Forces, from our intelligence capacity to our internal security concept, to protect ourselves, to preserve our national security in any case, and to protect our national security against all kinds of threats. We continue to update this. Türkiye has no fears from anyone. “It is out of the question to make any compromises in defending its law and national interests. But the fact that certain circles frequently mention Türkiye in the context of war and conflict with certain countries has a side that draws attention.” “We lay down the basic principle by saying that we find the attack of America and Israel completely illegitimate, completely unjust and unlawful.” Çelik said that they evaluated that missile launches against some Islamic countries would not be of any benefit to Iran, and that they could lead to some conclusions about the picture Israel wants to see in the big picture.

“THE MISSILE WAS SHOT BECAUSE IT TARGETED THE TURKISH AIRSPACE”

Regarding the neutralization of a ballistic ammunition, which was detected to have been fired from Iran and directed towards Turkish airspace, by NATO air and missile defense elements stationed in the Eastern Mediterranean, Çelik said, “The missile was shot down because it targeted Turkish airspace. I cannot say anything for sure, but its target is in the south. Because they say they are targeting American bases. It is a country and this country is our neighbor. It is being subjected to an unfair and unlawful attack. We need to mobilize all our diplomatic capacity and power to stop this attack. “The main thing here is to establish the peace table, start diplomacy again and stop this attack. For this, the widest front needs to be created.” he said. Çelik pointed out that those encouraged for the armed uprising in Iran should not be called “Kurdish groups” and said, “Terrorist organizations are different from our Kurdish brothers in Iran. It would be very wrong to say ‘Kurdish groups’. There would be a result of portraying all Kurds as separatists, so let’s not say that. They are not a Kurdish group, they are terrorists.” made his assessment.

“WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THE SECURITY OF TRNC”

Regarding the deployment of 6 F-16 warplanes and air defense systems by the Ministry of National Defense within the framework of gradual plans to increase the security of the TRNC, Ömer Çelik said: “The situation in the Eastern Mediterranean is obvious. We have to think about the security of the TRNC. The Greek side is currently one of the parties closest to Zionism, Zionist aggression, and this genocidal network. Of course, this will essentially be a shame to them. So that’s it.” “Greece and the Greek Cypriot side are the first to sign these agreements or establish these relations during the genocide. Of course, it is normal for us to take these steps to further consolidate the balance of forces in terms of our rights and interests there. This is not a step taken against anyone. It is a step taken to reinforce the security perspective.”