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Extradition cases that could expose Turkey and Venezuela’s collusion to evade US sanctions

Extradition cases that could expose Turkey and Venezuela’s collusion to evade US sanctions

A constitutional court in Cape Verde has issued a recent ruling that would pave the way for the extradition of Alex Saab, a Colombian-born businessman indicted in 2019 for facilitating sanctions evasion and bribery schemes by the Maduro regime in Venezuela. His extradition from Cape Verde, combined with ongoing US efforts to extradite a Turkish money laundering suspect from Austria, could help expose a web of Iranian, Turkish, and Venezuelan illicit financial dealings.

Aykan Erdemir joins our host Thanos Davelis to look at the connections between Turkey and Venezuela, Erdogan’s defiance of US sanctions against Venezuela, and why these two extradition cases will be critical to follow moving forward.

Dr. Aykan Erdemir is the senior director of the Turkey program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former Turkish lawmaker. He is also a frequent contributor to debates on illicit finance and sanctions evasion.