1 min read
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6B407420101205
A 2004 dated cable by then-U.S. ambassador Eric Edelman said: "We have heard from two contacts that Erdogan has eight accounts in Swiss banks; his explanations that his wealth comes from the wedding presents guests gave his son and that a Turkish businessman is paying the educational expenses of all four Erdogan children in the U.S. purely altruistically are lame."
Erdogan has denied he has any money in Swiss bank accounts and threatened to file a lawsuit over the charges.
The diplomatic messages at times show concerns that European Union candidate Turkey is shifting its allegiances from the West and Israel toward Iran and other Muslim countries since Erdogan took office in 2002.
Edelman's cables also portray Erdogan as an authoritarian, distrustful leader of his ruling AK Party and say that he believes God appointed him to lead Turkey.
The AK Party traces its roots to a banned Islamist movement, but denies its a religious grouping. It is gearing up for a general election planned for June, in which Erdogan is seeking a third term.
Erdogan must have an elephant's memory to remember the account numbers of his eight Swiss bank accounts! We shall see if he really will sue anyone on this and who. Eric Edelman?
Erdogan as an envoy of God, that is an interesting confirmation of his paranoid tendencies.
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