Trump-Erdoğan relation in limelight after inquiry into Trump towers in Turkey

Evasive answers by the Trump Organization to questions by four U.S. Democratic senators on the U.S. President Donald Trump's business dealings in Turkey, in fact, have drawn more attention to the case, Courthouse News reporter Adam Klasfeld said on Thursday.

The Trump Organization gave four U.S. Senators the run-around in an inquiry into Trump Towers Istanbul, providing these four non-responsive or evasive answers to their Oct. 22 letter.

Doc: https://t.co/14s9NprSOP

Background, @CourthouseNews: https://t.co/VYelILUWb1 pic.twitter.com/0yrVoXBgVj

— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) November 14, 2019

Senate Democrats Tom Udall, Tammy Duckworth, Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal, in a letter sent on Tuesday, requested Trump Organization Executive Vice President Jill A. Martin to disclose information on the Trump family’s real estate in Istanbul.

The Trump Organization has a license agreement with Turkey's Doğan Group for a twin tower in Istanbul, and Trump himself said in a 2015 interview during the presidential campaign that the arrangement presented “a little conflict of interest” should he be elected.

The Trump Organization did not provide any information on the total dollar value of income earned by the company related to its licensing agreement and the terms for Turkish entities to terminate its licensing agreement with the Trump Organization, both requested by U.S. senators in their Oct. 22 letter, Klasfeld said.

Compare the Trump Organization's reply in the linked document below with the questions the senators asked.https://t.co/sDd5gUju5t

They had asked for:

* a "total dollar value." (Not provided)
* terms of terminations. (Not provided.) pic.twitter.com/xUdiDhxSek

— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) November 14, 2019

Senators also asked what authority the Turkish government has to remove the Trump name from the buildings or impact the licensing agreement and whether the Trump Organization received any messages from the U.S. government.

But, the Trump Organization ignored these question in the answers they provided, Klasfeld said.

Trump has been under harsh criticism for being more than accommodating towards Erdoğan's requests, such as the withdrawal the U.S. troops that clear the way for the Turkish incursion into northeast Syria and blocking sanction attempts by the U.S. Congress against Turkey and Erdoğan.