"They are engaging in Hezbollah-like behavior and taking hostages to use as trade bait," Eric Edelman, who served as U.S. ambassador to Turkey between 2003 and 2005, told me this week. Edelman said he suspects Erdogan is more interested in exchanging prisoners for Reza Zarrab, a Turkish gold trader who was arrested last year for violating sanctions against Iran through dollar transactions that went through Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Erdogan's government has urged the U.S. at the highest levels to drop the case against Zarrab.
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