The FBI may have helped the escape of Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) suspect Hüseyin Korkmaz's family. Korkmaz had testified in the Mehmet Hakan Atilla trial for which Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab has turned state's witness in New York.
Ayşe and Mustafa Korkmaz, the parents of fugitive Gülenist and former deputy police Chief Hüseyin Korkmaz, fled Turkey in September 2016, despite having been ordered not to leave the country by the court, Turkish media reported on Monday. Hüseyin Korkmaz said in his testimony in New York that he made his first contact with the FBI in 2016, and he had handed over documents and information to his mother to hide before he illegally spirited them off to the U.S. The Hurriyet daily reported that after his statements, Turkish prosecutors began to devise that is was possible that the FBI may have helped the illegal escape of Korkmaz's parents by providing them fake IDs and passports. Turkish intelligence now presumes that the family illegally entered Georgia from Turkey, since they stayed in a hotel on April 30, 2017, in Artvin, near the Georgian border, which was their last recorded information.
Korkmaz also said in his testimony that he met with U.S. prosecutors more than 40 times during the preparations to be a witness in the case against Halkbank Deputy CEO Mehmet Hakan Atilla, who is charged with evading U.S. sanctions on Iran. The FETÖ suspect said the meetings "lasted some days for two hours, sometimes four hours and sometimes longer."
Also, earlier this week, Adam Klasfeld, a reporter for Courthouse News, said Korkmaz testified in the trial in New York that the FBI gave him $50,000 of "financial assistance," which he said he had not asked for. Korkmaz, who said he has not been employed in the U.S., also received "help with his rent" from the prosecutor's office, according to his testimony. "I took my wife and my daughter and I left the country that I dearly love," Korkmaz testified. He said he eventually came to the United States with the help of U.S. law enforcement authorities, bringing with him audio recordings and other evidence he sneaked out from Turkey.
