ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey’s parliament has approved a long-awaited anti-terrorism financing law two weeks ahead of a deadline which could have seen it expelled from an international watchdog, parliamentary officials said on Thursday.
Turkey is on a “grey list” of countries drawn up by the 36-member Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a money-laundering watchdog, for failing to implement the legislation required by its members despite pressing Ankara for years.
The law, which will allow alleged “terrorist” accounts to be frozen without a court order, provides for a variety of penalties including imprisonment for those found to be abetting terrorism, the parliamentary officials told Reuters.
Had Turkey failed to pass the law by the February 22 deadline, it would have risked expulsion from the FATF, moving it onto a blacklist alongside Iran and North Korea.
Turkey’s president will have 15 days to confirm the law following its passage through parliament.
(Writing by Seltem Iyigun; Editing by Nick Tattersall)
via Turkish parliament approves anti-terrorism financing law – World news – Mideast/N. Africa – Iran | NBC News.
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