ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's Halkbank HALKB.IS said on Wednesday that U.S. charges against it were made as part of sanctions Washington slapped on Ankara over its military operation in Syria, adding they appeared to be largely a repeat of allegations in a similar previous trial.

U.S. prosecutors on Tuesday charged the state-owned lender with taking part in a multibillion-dollar scheme to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran.

“These were filed as part of the sanctions introduced against our country by the U.S. government in response to Operation Peace Spring, heroically launched by the Turkish Army to secure our borders and establish peace in the region,” Halkbank said in a statement.