Turkish former NBA star denies falling out with Erdogan
Basketball star Hidayet Turkoglu has denied quitting the top post of the Turkish Basketball Federation and his firing as an adviser to the Turkish president for refusing to move his money to Turkey.
Former NBA star Hidayet Turkoglu has denied media reports that he is stepping down as the head of the Turkish Basketball Federation and was fired from his job as an adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for refusing to move his fortune from the United States to Turkey.
Turkoglu responded to the claims via Twitter, saying he would continue in his twin roles as a chief adviser to Erdogan — one he was exercising “with great pride” — and as federation head. Turkoglu blamed the rumors on putative rivals seeking to dethrone him in upcoming federation elections.
The opposition daily Cumhuriyet, citing sources close to Erdogan, claimed pressure on Turkoglu to transfer his alleged 150 million-euro fortune to Turkey had come from the Turkish leader himself. When Turkoglu declined to comply, he got the boot and was getting ready to move back to the United States.
Turkey remains in the grip of a massive foreign currency crunch after flooding the markets with more than $150 billion over the past two years. The ill-conceived policy to boost the value of the Turkish lira not only failed but cost Erdogan’s former finance minister and son-in-law Berat Albayrak his job.
