People walk past by a branch of Halkbank in central Istanbul, Turkey, October 16, 2019. REUTERS/Huseyin Aldemir

ANKARA (Reuters) - Nothing will come of a case against Turkey’s state-owned lender Halkbank “if the law in the United States works”, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday, adding that the case was politically motivated.

U.S. prosecutors on Tuesday charged Halkbank with taking part in a multi-billion-dollar scheme to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran.

Halkbank said the U.S. charges against it amounted to an escalation of Washington’s sanctions on Ankara over its military incursion in Syria, while President Tayyip Erdogan called them an “unlawful, ugly” step.