Turkey hails removal from watchdog's money laundering list

Turkey on Friday hailed its removal from the money laundering and terrorism financing watch list of the global financial misconduct watchdog FATF.

"Thanks to the good measures we've adopted, Turkey has been removed from the grey list," the economy ministry said following the decision by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) at a meeting in Singapore.

FATF had placed Turkey on the list in October 2021 over a failure to combat money laundering and terrorism funding, in a decision denounced by Ankara as "unfair".

In a statement, the FATF said Turkey had been removed from the list, saying it had made "significant progress" in the fight against money laundering and terror funding.

"We've done it!" Economy Minister Mehmet Simsek wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Turkey would "resolutely continue" its fight against organized crime, which has increased across the country in recent months.