Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Erdal Aksünger has claimed on Friday that Interpol has issued red notices on former Turkish economy minister Zafer Çağlayan and Turkish state lender Halkbank’s former general manager Süleyman Aslan, online news outlet Ahval reported.
A red notice is “a request to locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending extradition,” Interpol website reads .
Çağlayan and Aslan were named as co-defendants in the original US indictment, but only Iran-born billionaire Reza Zarrab and Halkbank’s former executive Mehmet Hakan Atilla were arrested by the US law enforcement. US authorities already issued an arrest warrant for former minister and close ally of Erdoğan in the past.
Zarrab pleaded guilty and turned government witness, and Atilla pleaded not guilty. After the trial, a New York jury on Wednesday found Atilla guilty of banking fraud and conspiring to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran, five out of six counts.
There is no trial in absentia in the US justice system, Aksünger was quoted as saying by Germany-based Turkish news website Artı Gerçek. Therefore, Çağlayan and Aslan are sought by the Interpol.
Though when search Zafer Çağlayan name on Interpol site , no result found. An arrest warrant is routine, a legal expert told Ahval, but an Interpol Red Notice is not.
Aksünger has observed the Atilla trial as a representative of his party, and said Halkbank faces $10 billion in fines for violating US sanctions against Iran.
