Erdal Kuyumcu, 44, the chief executive of Global Metallurgy LLC

A former Turkish actor, detained in New York for illegally selling to Iran a restricted metallic powder used in missile production, pleaded guilty on June 15.
Erdal Kuyumcu, 44, the chief executive of Global Metallurgy LLC, pleaded guilty in a Brooklyn federal court on June 15 to deliberately violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which limits trade with Iran.

The indictment said Kuyumcu collected more than 450 kilograms of cobalt-nickel metallic powder, which is used in aerospace, missile production and nuclear applications, to export them to Iran.

It added that Kuyumcu, along with another partner, then hid the metal powder in Turkey before sending it to Iran.

The indictment demanded 20 years in prison for Kuyumcu, in addition to a $1 million fine, but Kuyumcu is expected to be sentenced to up to five years in jail after reaching a deal with the prosecutor’s office and disclosing the partners and institutions involved in the plan.

The final verdict on Kuyumcu will be given in October.

According to a statement by the U.S. Justice Ministry, Kuyumcu sold nickel metal powder, which he bought from a U.S. company in Ohio, to Iran via a firm in Turkey without receiving a license from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

Kuyumcu’s lawyer Patrick Mullin denied that the powder would have been used in missile production, claiming that it was also often used for industrial purposes.

Kuyumcu had appeared in many TV series and movies in Turkey.

Zarrab case

Kuyumcu’s case may also set a precedent for the case involving Iranian-Turkish businessman Reza Zarrab, who is currently jailed pending trial in the United States for money laundering, fraud and on charges of violating sanctions against Iran. Zarrab is on trial conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) against Iran and its institutions.

He faces 75 years in prison and a possible $50 million fine, $10 million of which will be paid in cash and the rest of which will be paid in bonds.

source: hurriyetdailynews

June/15/2016

Ankara demanded allowance for uranium enrichment and plutonium extraction in a nuclear export deal inked with Tokyo, a Japanese daily quoted as a Japanese Foreign Ministry official as saying.

A clause, which was added in the nuclear agreement signed by the two nations, upon Turkey’s demand prompted concerns over a possible proliferation of nuclear weapons.

The clause at issue allows Turkey to enrich uranium and extract plutonium, potentially creating nuclear material for weapons, Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun reported on Jan. 8.

A senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official claimed the clause was added at the request of Turkey, the daily also reported.

A joint venture involving Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has won an order to construct Turkey’s second nuclear plant in the Black Sea province of Sinop.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was in Japan since Jan. 5, and his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, had signed a $22 billion deal on the nuclear plant project.

Safety issues

The pact paves the way for exporting Japan’s enrichment and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing technologies and is expected to be discussed at the Japanese Parliament soon before voting on its approval.

The deal was on the agenda during a meeting between the Turkish and Japanese prime ministers on Jan. 7 in Tokyo, as they have agreed to accelerate the process.

Japanese exports and anti-nuclear opposition members voice concerns over Japan’s first nuclear export after the Fukushima disaster, claiming allowing Turkey’s enrichment and extraction activities would contradict Japan’s stance against nuclear weapons.

Moreover, Turkey’s earthquake-prone geographical condition stirs safety debates in the country that became over-sensitive about the issue after experiencing the Fukushima disaster of 2011 that killed around 20,000 people.

Yuki Tanabe of the Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society, a nonprofit organization, pointed out a seismic risk in Turkey, where more than 17,000 people died in a major earthquake in 1999, the daily reported. “Even if Japanese nuclear reactors are highly resistant to earthquakes, an accident could occur when facilities around them are damaged,” Tanabe told Asahi Shimbun.

Turkish actor Erdal Kuyumcu in US admits selling nuclear technology material to Iran

Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun reported on Jan. 8.The clause at issue allows Turkey to enrich uranium and extract plutonium, potentially creating nuclear material for weapons,