Turkey has turned to the U.S. courts to seek evidence against American charter schools it says are funding the activities of a dissident living in Pennsylvania. The Turkish government has asked federal judges in Ohio and Illinois to make the schools turn over a trove of documents on their expenditures and employees for a criminal investigation in Turkey. It alleges that the charters are using funds obtained through illicit schemes to help Fethullah Gulen, the exiled cleric it blames for an attempted military coup, run subversive operations back home.

Six people were charged in an elaborate “birth tourism” scheme that helped Turkish women secure U.S. citizenship for their children and cost American taxpayers upward of $2 million, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. The alleged ringleaders, Sarah Kaplan and Ibrahim Aksakal, both residents of Long Island, New York, brazenly advertised their services on Turkish-language Facebook pages and websites with titles like “My baby should be born in America,” prosecutors said.

A manufacturer of automotive fluid circulation systems will establish its North American headquarters and a new manufacturing facility in Northwest Georgia, state officials announced. Teklas expects to invest $6.5 million in a vacant textile factory in Calhoun, Georgia, and create 120 new jobs. The Turkish company supplies components for heating and cooling systems — including metal, plastic, and rubber hoses and pipes — to automakers worldwide. The debut U.S. facility will join existing operations in Europe, China, and Mexico.

New Jersey businesswoman Derya Taşkın will be the first Turk representing the Democratic Party in the U.S. Electoral College, which will formally elect America's next president and vice president.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Taşkın said she has lived in the United States for about 25 years and has been actively working in various positions within the Democratic Party for a long time. The party board recognized her effort and selected her for the post, she said.

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's transition to the White House has officially started, three weeks after he was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election.

President Donald Trump still refuses to concede and has vowed to continue to fight in court after General Services Administrator Emily Murphy gave the green light Monday for Biden to coordinate with federal agencies ahead of his Jan. 20 inauguration. Trump did, however, tweet that he was directing his team to cooperate on the transition.

Taşkın noted that Turkish people both from Republican and Democratic parties have taken significant steps in U.S. politics. She added that she does not think that Turkish-U.S. relations will deteriorate during Biden’s presidency.

“The two countries have a strong alliance and are NATO members. Biden knows how important NATO is. Biden had some statements in January, but it may be the result of some lobbies and our passivity. With our efforts, I believe we will change the ideas of Biden and his team to bring Turkish-American relations to a better level,” she said.

In an interview in January, Biden said that if he was elected president, his administration would pursue a policy of intervention against Turkey's elected government.

"What I think we should be doing is taking a very different approach to (President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) now, making it clear that we support opposition leadership," said Biden.

He added, suggesting an ultimatum: "He (Erdoğan) has to pay a price. He has to pay a price for whether or not we're going to continue to sell certain weapons to him."

Biden’s statements were met with stark criticism from both ruling and opposition parties.