WASHINGTON
The US and Türkiye took joint action on Tuesday to crack down on a pair of financiers affiliated with al-Qaeda-linked groups in Syria, the countries announced Tuesday.
Joint sanctions are being applied to Omar Alsheak and Kubilay Sari for financing US and UN-designated terror groups, the US Treasury said in a statement.
“As terrorist groups continue to seek access to the international financial system, collaboration with our partners increases our ability to more effectively disrupt these facilitation networks,” Brian Nelson, the department’s top official for financial intelligence, said in a statement.
“Treasury remains committed to working with Türkiye and others in the region to disrupt the flow of funds to terrorist groups and to degrade their capacity to operate,” he added.
Alsheak is a leader with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, serving on its shura council, and was a financial leader in its predecessor group, al-Nusrah Front which was tightly linked with al-Qaeda, the Treasury said.
Sari is part of an Uzbek jihadist group affiliated with al-Qaeda that operates primarily in Syria’s Idlib province, and received funds to purchase weapons including mortars and firearms for Katibat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, it added.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken hailed the joint action, saying it “underscores our commitment to collaborating with our Turkish partners in degrading terrorist financing networks across the region.”
Turkish authorities are freezing Alsheak and Sari’s assets that are subject to Turkish jurisdiction. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Ankara “will continue to take effective steps on countering terrorism-financing, and cooperate with its international partners on the issue.”
The joint action is the second this year after Washington and Ankara froze the assets of seven Daesh/ISIS terrorist organization-affiliated individuals on Jan. 5.
