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Two former associates of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn were charged with alleged illegal lobbying on behalf of the Turkish government in the United States and false statements to the FBI, according to a deed. unsealed charge released Monday.
Bijan Rafiekian, also known as Bijan Kian, and Kamil Ekim Alptekin, of Istanbul, were indicted for involvement in a plot to "secretly influence US politicians and public opinion" against a Turkish citizen residing in the United States, whose extradition had been requested by the Turks. government, according to the Department of Justice.
This Turkish citizen is Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused of leading a failed coup d'etat
. in the indictment as "company A", based on the "person A" expertise in national security. Person A would apparently be Flynn.
According to the indictment, the conspiracy was to use company A to "delegitimize the Turkish citizen in the eyes of the American public and American politicians, with the aim of obtaining his extradition, who met with resistance at the United States Department of Justice ".
Kian and Alptekin allegedly concealed the fact that the Turkish government was running the works. According to the indictment, Turkish cabinet officials approved the project budget and Alptekin reportedly provided Turkish officials with up-to-date information on the project.
Kian and Alptekin failed to register under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA), under which Flynn, the former adviser to the national security of the White House, has also failed to register because of his work with Turkey. According to the indictment, Mr. Rafiekian was vice president of the Flynn business group, the Flynn Intel Group. The two men worked throughout the year 2016 to find ways to extradite the Gulen cleric from the United States to Turkey.
The Associated Press contributed to the writing of this report.
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