Erdogan's earlier excuse? Well, he did not ever agree to the sanctions placed upon Iran.
But, but, but these transactions were done within the US banking system. Under US law.
Via Twitter:
Doloroso - @Pyrmha108
Preparations underway in the USA to slap sanctions on Turkey - via the great man...
https://twitter.com/Pyrmha108/status/948418857605222400
Right now, there’s only the conviction. The sentencing is later. My guess is that Atilla is going to ask for a meeting and agree to provide serious info on the full extent of money-laundering...to get this reduced down to a two-year sentence at some VIP prison.
This opens up dozens of other Turk banking officials, and Trump might hold the data out to the EU and suggest that he’ll give them the info if they start some trade agreement. If they say no....then he’ll let the newspapers in the EU know that the EU is a pro-Erdogan group. Either way, he wins.