As Trump admin drops Halkbank case, S-400 last big hurdle in US-Turkey ties
The move eases a key source of friction with Turkey ahead of a NATO summit in Ankara.
The Trump administration has moved to fulfill Turkey’s long-running demand to dismiss a criminal case against Turkish state lender Halkbank over allegations it helped Iran evade sanctions.
The bank’s share price rose nearly 4% in early trading on Thursday after the US Department of Justice asked a federal judge to dismiss the case the day prior, saying it had no intention of prosecuting the Turkish bank.
The move removes another element of friction between Turkey and the United States ahead of a critical NATO summit due to be held in Ankara next month. President Donald Trump will be attending the event.
The federal case against Halkbank was formally filed in 2019, when prosecutors in the Southern District of New York unsealed a six-count indictment against the lender, including a conspiracy to defraud the United States and money laundering. Halkbank denied the charges and argued that it was immune to prosecution in foreign courts as it is a state entity.
