The 'Zarrab Case', Due Next Week, Is An Upcoming Political Earthquake

In these days of global political turmoil with Turkey at the epicenter of a group of countries damaged by mismanagement, few items deserve more attention than the pending trial of a certain Turkish-Iranian gold trader by name of Reza Zarrab. It is now known for certain that the man, whose trial for allegedly cheating U.S. sanctions in a vast organized crime is scheduled to begin in a few days, was secretly removed from a federal prison and may be working with the prosecutors.

What he may tell has been a cause for a nightmare somewhere else. The indictment already has Zafer Çağlayan, a former minister and a figure from the inner circle of Turkish President Erdoğan, among the prime suspects. But the real content of the accusations – not yet known – may be a political bomb. The case has also engulfed Michael Flynn, a former national security advisor to President Trump.

Flynn, who disclosed that he had been a paid agent of Turkey only after he was forced to resign as national security advisor because of his interactions with Russian officials, had also been a prominent Trump campaign surrogate. The Mueller investigation is looking into whether Flynn discussed the Zarrab case with Turkish contacts, NBC News reported Friday.

Needless to say, the Zarrab case has now become the main cause of the derailing of Turkey's foreign policy, shattering its relations with the U.S. and NATO.

Erdoğan has said he asked then Vice President Joe Biden about arranging for the release of the 34-year-old trader, a dual Turkish and Iranian citizen who’s socialized with the Turkish president and is married to a popular Turkish singer.And Erdoğan has intimated that both former U.S. attorney for the Southern District Preet Bharara and Judge Richard Berman were secretly agents of exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen.

This story explains, to great detail, the background of a trial, due to begin next week, under extremely tense circumstances.