al-Qaeda financier aboard Erdogan's presidential plane

Yasin al-Qadi, an Egyptian-born Saudi national who was under sanctions for financing terrorism with respect to al-Qaeda, was secretly taken aboard the Turkish government plane on orders from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan was returning from a one-day trip to Riyadh, where he extended his condolences for the death of Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia at the time. It appears he made the visit to specifically pick up al-Qadi as his visit came on Wednesday afternoon, October 26, on very short notice.

At the time, Erdogan's visit was criticized by the political opposition, which claimed Erdogan was avoiding Turkey’s most important problem during a general meeting in Parliament on the issue of terrorism.

In Istanbul, Ali Erdogan, a nephew of President Erdoğan and the de facto head of his protection detail, met the plane on the apron, Al-Qadi was moved to a villa owned by Cuneyd Zapsu, a close ally of Erdogan and a friend of al-Qadi.

Al-Qadi and Erdogan’s son Bilal were leading suspects in a corruption investigation pursued by prosecutors in Istanbul and were the subjects of detention warrants issued on December 25, 2013 by the prosecutors. 

However, Erdogan stepped in, illegally preventing the execution of the warrants by ordering the police to ignore the prosecutors’ orders. After the removal of the prosecutors and police chiefs who were involved in the investigation, Erdogan managed to whitewash the crimes of his associates.