NYC Mayor charged with corruption: Eyes on Turkey

New York City Mayor Eric Adams was indicted on five federal charges related to bribery, conspiracy, wire fraud and soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals. The prosecutors in the case unsealed a 57-page federal indictment on Thursday, accusing the mayor of receiving luxury travel and other benefits from a Turkish official and in exchange, pressuring New York City’s Fire Department to open a Turkish consular building without a fire inspection. The building in question is the Turkish House.

Turkish House, 'Türkevi'

Mayor Eric Adams, formerly a police captain, allegedly accepted more than $100,000 in luxury travel—including hotel stays, lavish meals and airline upgrades—from Turkish nationals beginning in 2016, when he still served as president of the New York borough of Brooklyn. In exchange for these and illegal donations by Turkish nationals to his 2021 mayoral campaign through straw donors, he is said to have circumvented due process regarding building permits about the Turkish House.

^{Türkevi, Turkish House, sitting right across the UN headquarters in NYC | AA}

The Turkish House, "Türkevi" in Turkish, is a 35-floor skyscraper in the heart of New York. The property was initially bought from IBM in 1977 in order to use for Turkey's diplomatic missions in the city. In 2006, plans were made to buy a neighboring property as well, demolish the original Turkish House and rebuild it. The House was demolished in 2017 and the new building's construction finished in 2021.

Most notably, Adams is accused of pressuring the New York Fire Department to allow the building to operate without a fire inspection so that the House would be ready for Turkish President Erdoğan's visit to the city in 2021. "You are a true friend of Turkey," a Turkish diplomat allegedly said to Adams.

• Suggested read: Timeline of New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ federal corruption charge allegations | CNN, Ashley R. Williams and Celina Tebor

Political expectations: Not just the building

According to the indictment, the extent to which Turkish officials wielded influence over the Mayor in exchange of the donations and the luxury travels surpasses expediting building permits.

The relationship is said to go back to 2015, when Adams was  serving as president of the New York borough of Brooklyn. Back then, Adams was allegedly told to "cut ties" with a Turkish community center in Brooklyn if he "wished to keep receiving support." The center in question was alleged to be affiliated with a group hostile to Turkey, most probably Gülenists, an Islamist movement once well-established within the Turkish state that was held responsible for a 2016 coup attempt against Erdoğan.

In another instance, Turkish diplomats supposedly sought assurance from Adams' team that the Mayor would not make a statement on 1915 massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire that Washington has called a genocide.

^{Mayor Eric Adams, speaking to the press, vowed to fight federal charges, Sept. 26, 2024 | Alex Krales/THE CITY}

In a press conference on Thursday, following the announcement of charges against him, Mayor Adams denied any wrongdoing and called for an "immediate" trial, resisting calls to resign. Adams is running for re-election in 2025, but his campaign is unlikely to survive the political fallout from the many allegations directed at him.

Punchline: A day before the announcement of charges from the prosecutors, Turkish President Erdoğan decided to cut his New York trip short. Erdoğan, who was in New York to attend the UN General Assembly, cancelled his plans last minute and returned to Ankara.

Furthermore: While many in the Turkish opposition pointed out that if the allegations are true then Turkish officials involved in the bribery scandal should be investigated in Turkey, the leader of the main opposition party CHP, Özgür Özel, came to Erdoğan's defense. Özel, who was also coincidentally in New York for a separate conference, said "Turkey isn't the kind of country that needs to resort to bribery," drawing criticism from his base for trying to clear the Erdoğan administration of their part in the alleged offenses.