FATF left Turkey on the 'gray list'

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) left Turkey on the 'gray list' due to 'insufficient efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing'. The FATF had placed Turkey on the 'gray list' for the first time in November 2021 due to 'systemic sanctions evasion, money laundering and terrorist financing concerns'. The Financial Action Task Force urged Turkey to increase its prosecution of terrorist financing and prioritize cases against UN-designated terrorist organizations such as ISIS and al-Qaeda.

The FAFT was established in 1989 to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and potential threats to the integrity of international financial systems. Every year, the organization, of which Turkey is a founding member, examines the efforts of countries to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing and draws up a world picture on the subject.

The Gray List means that countries with deficiencies and risks in money laundering and terrorist financing are kept under close surveillance. A country placed on this list is removed from the list if it takes the necessary steps to address its strategic and legal deficiencies on a timetable. 

In addition, Pakistan, which was included in the gray list in 2018 for "providing financial support to terrorism" and "failing to prevent money laundering", was removed from the list. FATF President T Raja Kumar announced in a statement after the two-day meeting held in Paris, the capital of France, that Pakistan, which had been sanctioned in previous years for "support for terrorism", was removed from the gray list. In the statement, it was reported that Pakistan was removed from the list on the grounds that it met the conditions imposed by the FATF.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, in a statement upon the removal from the list, stated that they came out of the FATF gray list as a result of determined and consistent efforts and sent a congratulatory message to all military and civilian officials who played a role in this process. Countries on the FATF's gray list feel the effects of this situation mostly in the economic field. In this context, countries added to the gray list may be deprived of the ability to borrow and trade internationally.