An Iranian who has been living in Turkey for 10 years has had to close a personal bank account, allegedly on account of a communiqu issued, seemingly to act in line with US and European Union led-sanctions, by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK).According to a story which appeared in the Yeni ?afak daily on Monday, some Turkish banks have told their Iranian clients to withdraw, by April 17, their money, which, otherwise, the banks said, would be confiscated.
A.G., in Turkey to attend school, had to withdraw the $15,000 that he had deposited with Yap? Kredi Bankas?. They treated me as if all Iranians were enriching uranium at home. I'm a civilian who has been earning money and depositing it here in Turkish banks, A.G. told the daily in protest. A.G., who feels unnecessarily victimized by the bank's attitude, is planning to take the case to court.
An official from one of the bank's branches in ?stanbul's Galatasaray neighborhood told the daily the bank, one of the financial institutions which called on account holders of Iranian origin to close their accounts, acted in line with a communiqu from the BDDK that ordered banks not to provide services for citizens of those countries against which sanctions are in effect." According to the daily, the BDDK, on the other hand, said it hadn't issued any such communiqu.
Iran, economically suffocated by sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union, is accused of trying to produce nuclear weapons. Iran claims that its nuclear aims are purely peaceful and that it is enriching uranium to a higher grade to make isotopes for medical purposes, while Washington says Tehran is enriching uranium to levels that could be used in nuclear weapons.
According to A.G., Garanti Bankas? is another bank that has contacted Iranian as well as Syrian clients to let them know they need to close their accounts. Officials from three other banks -- namely, Finansbank, Vak?fBank and Halk Bankas? -- told the daily they were not aware of any such communiqu from the BDDK.
A.G., who has withdrawn the money in question from Yap? Kredi and deposited it in another bank, made it clear that this practice is meaningless. He noted that there are also students and sick people among those who arrive in Turkey from Iran and Syria who also have accounts in Turkish banks. Those who have problems with Iran should settle their problems with Iran, not with civilians like us, he said, adding: I'm a civilian who has deposited money in Turkish banks. It's none of the UN's business, none of NATO's business.
Iran and the so-called P5+1 group, composed of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the US, Russia, China, the UK and France plus Germany -- recently came together in Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan, for further negotiations, which ended unsuccessfully. It became clear that our positions remain far apart, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said after the negotiations in the first week of April.
By Today's Zaman
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