Ankara says shady business tycoon's partner does not hold Turkish citizenship

Turkey's General Directorate of Civil Registration and Nationality, under the Interior Ministry, said on June 22 that shady business tycoon Sezgin Baran Korkmaz's business partner Lev Aslan Dermen, also known as Levon Termendzhyan, does not hold Turkish citizenship, contrary to reports.

Wednesday June 23 2021 05:22 pm

This collage photo shows Lev Aslan Dermen (L) and Sezgin Baran Korkmaz.

Duvar English

Turkey's General Directorate of Civil Registration and Nationality, under the Interior Ministry, on June 22 refuted claims that shady business tycoon Sezgin Baran Korkmaz's business partner Lev Aslan Dermen had been granted Turkish citizenship.

"Claims circulating in the press and social media that Lev Aslan Dermen (Levon Termendzhyan) was granted Turkish citizenship are not reflective of the truth," said an official statement from the directorate.

The directorate also checked its records for citizenships and citizenship applications for names that are similar to Dermen's, and found no evidence of either.

Korkmaz is accused by U.S. prosecutors of involvement in schemes to defraud the U.S. taxpayer led by the Kingston brothers and Dermen.

The Kingston brothers pled guilty last year to a $500-million fraud of a government biofuel programme, which lasted nearly a decade.

They transferred over $134 million in fraudulent proceeds to companies in Turkey and Luxembourg on the instructions of Dermen, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.