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Trump’s company was paid as much as $10 million in licensing fees for Trump Towers Istanbul from 2014 to ca 2015 or 16. “Inside Donald Trump’s global business empire, and the problems it could cause“, by Drew Harwell and Anu Narayanswamy, Monday 21 November 2016 15:16 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-president-money-businesses-deals-turkey-china-conflicts-interests-a7429826.html

And, payments apparently continue. Payments in the range of $1 to $5 million were reported in 2017, as well as 2016 in his financial disclosures.

Turkey’s strong-man President Erdogan has been accused of arresting/threatening Trump’s business partners to indirectly extort (shake-down) Trump. This puts Trump’s licensing agreement at risk.

The licensing agreement can be terminated, as explained on the Trump Towers Istanbul web site: http://web.archive.org/web/20170906223528/http://www.trumpistanbul.com.tr/en/disclaimer.aspx

In June of 2016, Erdogan demanded that Trump’s name be removed from Trump Towers, due to Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric. However, he seemed to have backed down, once Trump was elected. See: “Turkey’s Islamist president is embracing Donald Trump: But Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s enthusiasm may not last long” Nov 30th 2016, Istanbul, The Economist, https://archive.li/fNfcu

“Turkey arrests Donald Trump ally ‘to secure leverage’ with next US President: Arrest of Republican’s business associate highlights potential conflicts of interest“, by Jon Sharman, Tuesday 13 December 2016 14:08 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-turkey-dogan-blackmail-erdogan-extradite-gulen-msnbc-rachel-maddow-a7471291.html

http://web.archive.org/web/20181014142756/https://www.timesofisrael.com/turkey-threatening-trumps-business-to-sway-policy-report/

With little warning, Trump handed the fate of Kurdish led Syrian Democratic Forces to Turkey by withdrawing US troops: “Turkey threatens to ‘bury’ Kurdish forces in Syria amid U.S. withdrawal” https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/turkey-threatens-to-bury-kurdish-militants-in-syria-amid-us-withdrawal/2018/12/20/06d8eb18-0460-11e9-958c-0a601226ff6b_story.html

There is an apparent discrepancy between Trump’s reports on Trump Towers Istabul. For his 2017 disclosure, he reported over $1 million and up to $5 million in licensing fees (royalties), up to April 2017. Is this January 2017 to April 2017? Or is it April 2016 to April 2017? In 2018, he filed a disclosure for from Jan 2017 to Dec. 2017 and reported $1 million or less. For his 2016 disclosure, he listed $1-5 million, but didn’t specify dates. Regardless, since this is apparently an ongoing licensing fee/royalties, Trump/the Trumps have a lot of money at risk/at stake in Turkey.

Keynote speakers at the 37th Annual Conference on US-Turkey Relations, planned at Trump International Hotel in Washington DC, in April, include Rep of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sedat Onal, and Mehmet Ali Yalçındağ of TAIK (US Turkish Business Council). http://web.archive.org/web/20181120205533/http://atctaikconference.com/

Mehmet Ali Yalçındağ is the husband of the chair of Dogan Holding, which licenses the Trump name for its towers. His predecessor at TAIK, Alptekin, was just charged “with conspiracy, acting in the United States as illegal agents of the government of Turkey…“https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-men-charged-conspiracy-and-acting-agents-foreign-government

“Trump Touted His Turkish Business Partner In A Call With President Erdogan: Dogan Holding, which owns Trump Towers Istanbul, has butted heads with Erdogan’s government“, By Paul Blumenthal
POLITICS 11/23/2016 08:11 pm ET Updated Nov 23, 2016 https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-turkey-business_us_5836188ae4b01ba68ac41d9f

Arzuhan Doğan Yalçındağ is chair of the Doğan Holding industrial conglomerate.
Her husband is Mehmet Ali Yalçındağ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arzuhan_Yalçındağ
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aydın_Doğan

US-Turkey Conference Planned At Trump Hotel DC; Sponsors Include Boeing, Trump Acting Sec Of Defense Was Boeing Exec; Boeing Just Launched Tech Center In Turkey





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