Banking in (on?) Cyprus

Further to my post on banking in Dubai, miguel points to this Jan 03 article in WSWS (WSWS rocks, btw)

"After its election victory in Turkey last November, the AKP (Party for Justice and Development) led by Recep Tayip Erdogan promised a new policy. The Cyprus conflict was to be resolved in order to hasten negotiations on Turkey’s own accession to the EU. In December, the EU decided to accept Cyprus as a full member in 2004, and the UN presented a new plan to overcome the division of the island.

However, Denktash, with the support of the Turkish army leadership, has since blocked this plan. While the Turkish population of Cyprus is protesting against Denktash in the streets, and Erdogan has been warning that the will of the people must not be ignored, high-ranking military figures came out with several statements in the Turkish media declaring that the UN plan for Cyprus posed a threat to Turkey’s security interests.

The Turkish military is clinging to Northern Cyprus for ideological, economic and strategic reasons.
[snip]
Economically, the occupation and division of the island creates a lucrative source of income for members of the military as well as for the criminal fascist gangs, the Gray Wolves, which constitute a key pillar of Denktash’s regime. It has been an open secret for a long time that the money laundered in the numerous banks and casinos in Northern Cyprus comes from drug dealing and is used to finance the dirty war against the Kurdish minority in Turkey.
Following the de facto capitulation of the Kurdish nationalist movement, the PKK, even sections of the military regard the mafia structures that developed within the army during the 15 years of war against the Kurds as an obstacle to Turkey’s economic development. Still, the strategic importance of Cyprus has gained even greater significance for them."

It's a fascinating article - particularly with respect to understanding the delineation between the Turkish military and the Turkish government (remember, it was written just prior to the Iraq invasion)

Now remember what Sibel told Chris Deliso:

"SE: Well, I'm wondering why in this "war on terror" they aren't taking a look at the role of banks in Dubai, banks in Cyprus – they've always concentrated on banks in places like, say, Switzerland. They almost never look at these two other huge areas for money-laundering."

Miguel continues:

It would seem to me that if the above is true that the goal of the Turkish lobby, assuming the Turkish lobby is not representing the Turkish Republic, but rather the Turkish Military and certain Turkish business interests, would be to keep the status quo in Cyprus. Because the status quo is quite lucrative for these groups. Any settlement that created peace in Cyprus would be bad for business.

Indeed.

Sibel often points to Cyprus et al as a dodgy banking center. After my first phone call with her I wrote:

"it sounds like think she pulls her hair out in frustration at the fact that the banks in cyprus, malta, dubai and other similar places dont get investigated..."

And while we're at it, don't forget this post of mine where I noted that in Wilson's book, he writes:

"Throughout the two years I was at European Command, our relations with the Turkish military needed constant attention. [Deputy CINC] Jim Jamerson was on the phone several times a week with the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Marc Grossman, working on the most trivial details. (Politics of Truth 218)"

Jamerson had a pretty big job - why would he need to micromanage Turkey's military? Was he/they shipping drugs and arms and whatnot? Was Valerie Plame onto them?