Some background on Trump Admininstration - Erdoğan - Putin connections
Daily Kos, “Bombshell: Devin Nunes’ Entire Net Worth Sunk In Company With Strong Ties To Russia: Updated”, 26 Mar 2017:
Oh those rascally republicans! Not only was Devin Nunes caught sharing evidence with the White House he is supposed to be investigating, now reports show that he has sunk almost his entire net worth (which ain’t a lot) into The Napa Valley’s Alpha Omega winery, which has, as it’s only European contract, a distributor in Russia with close ties to…you guessed it… Putin.
“Nunes has put almost his entire net worth into a winery with strong ties to Russia.How strong? Well, the Alpha Omega Winery has distributors all over the U.S., but just a few abroad. One of those overseas distributors is the Luding Trading Company in Russia. Luding is, in fact, Russia’s largest distributor for alcoholic beverages. But they don’t just operate in Russia – they also appear to have a relationship with Vladimir Putin.”
Here’s a copy of his financial dregs:
So, Nunes is worth $51,000 and a penny and has $50,000 tied up in Russian Red.
Nice.
But he’s taking care to protect his investment, huh?
“It’s also odd that Alpha Omega Winery would have a relationship with Russia’s largest distributor when they only have a relationship with one Western nation (Switzerland). They don’t have any relationships with any other distributor in the EU, which means no relationships with NATO allies at all.
Then there’s the fact that Nunes is one of the people Trump called upon to refute news about the whole Russia scandal. That right there compromised the House’s investigation into Trump and Russia because it blurs the lines between the intelligence community, the White House, and Congress.”
Sunday, Mar 26, 2017 · 9:04:59 PM · durrati
Several Comments have pointed out that the source of this story didn’t make a compelling case for the Nunes/Russia slant of this story and they may be right to do so. The link to the LA Times Financial information has value though, it seems to me, and it is strange that a major player in the Russian Liquor Distribution Industry lists as one of it’s suppliers a small California vintner Nunes is invested in. I’ll leave this up because some of our sleuths here might find it interesting to dig into.
Daily Sabah, “FM Çavuşoğlu meets Trump’s top national security advisor”, 18 Jan 2017:
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu met with designated U.S. National Security adviser Rt. Gen. Mike Flynn on Wednesday at Trump Hotel in Washington.
“Met with General Flynn, who will assume the position of National Security Advisor, and other officials at a working breakfast in Washington D.C.,” Çavuşoğlu tweeted.
The meeting marks a first direct reachout between the President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan administration and the incoming Donald Trump administration, other than a phone call between two leaders last November.
House Intelligence Committee Congressman Devin Nunes, a Republican heavyweight, also attended the breakfast.
An aide of the foreign minister didn’t provide additional details on the meeting, but said that Çavuşoğlu was the only foreign leader at the breakfast and the topics on the U.S.-Turkish agenda were discussed by the attendees.
A invitation letter for the breakfast, obtained by Daily Sabah, said the breakfast would be a small event for about 50-60 guests. It also said White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus might join the meeting. It was not immediately clear whether he attended. An official at the Trump Organization, and two other fundraisers were presented as co-hosts, according to the letter.
Çavuşoğlu previously told Turkish media that he would attend the incoming Trump administration’s inauguration ceremony, which is due to be held on the West Front of the United States Capitol Building in Washington D.C. on Friday.
The official announcement comes as questions over whether the Trump administration will be able to normalize relations between Turkey and the U.S. are increasing.
Turkish officials have previously stated that Turkey can cooperate with the new U.S. administration since many of Turkey’s views overlap with the incoming president
Daily Sabbah, “Turkey confident on extradition of Gülen under Trump administration”, 23 Jan 2017:
Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş addressed the media after a Cabinet meeting Monday, reiterating the Turkish government’s two primary expectations of the newly sworn in Donald Trump administration, the extradition of U.S.-based Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) leader Fetullah Gülen and the halting of U.S. support for the PKK’s Syrian offshoot, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), and its armed wing, the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria.
The revelation comes on the heels of the inauguration of Donald Trump who took the Oval Office as the 45th president of the U.S. on Friday. Despite recent tensions with Washington, Turkish officials are confident that, compared to the Barack Obama administration, the new administration will usher in a new era of cooperation for the NATO-ally, especially in the counterterrorism fight against Daesh and FETÖ.
“Especially in efforts to revamp Turkish-U.S. relations, we expect the Trump administration to conduct a re-assessment of its position on Turkey and reconsider its position on two primary matters, the first of which is the extradition of the retired preacher Gülen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the U.S. as the purported leader of an outlawed Turkish gang which conducted crimes against the nation during the failed July 15 coup attempt. The second fundamental matter is halting U.S. support for the PYD,” the deputy prime minister asserted.
Emphasizing Turkey’s hopes that the new U.S. administration will not repeat the mistakes of the previous administration, Kurtulmuş also said that, “It is our aim to bring bilateral relations back to the level that is required between two, long-standing allies.”
Under the Obama administration, Turkish-U.S. relations deteriorated significantly due to Obama’s insistent claims that the PKK and the YPG are not one-in-the-same, regardless of mounting evidence and statements made by YPG terrorists.
Thus, Turkey’s deputy prime minister said that he is confident Turkey will see results under the Trump administration, further referring to the PYD as, “An armed group with a few militants who are accountable for the instability of the region.”
“The PYD, an armed group with few militants, is clearly a contributing factor to the region’s instability. Turkey urges the U.S. to stop supporting the group on the grounds that it is affiliated with the PKK and engages in terror activities. We are hopeful that we will yield results regarding this matter, as well. If these two expectations are met, Turkish-U.S. bilateral relations will be restored and strengthened once again. I do hope that this new administration moves forward by making decisions that contribute not only to Turkish-American relations but also to world peace and stability in the Middle East,” Kurtulmuş added.