Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek emphasized the importance of cooperation against those financing terrorism. "Both Turkey and the region has suffered a great deal from terrorism. We must certainly work together and eradicate the mechanisms financing terror," Şimşek said during his speech at the opening ceremony of the EU Twinning Project of the Fight against the Financing of Terrorism and Money Laundering. He added that fighting against the financing of terrorism has equal importance with the fight against terrorism itself.

Stating that human tragedies experienced in the recent period indicated the importance of the necessity for strong cooperation, Şimşek stressed: "There has to be a full-scale fight against terrorism, the financing of terrorism and laundering crimes. Terror is terror no matter what source, nation, sect or origin it comes from. Therefore, every country and all humans have to cooperate. I attach importance to the cooperation to be built between the EU, the U.K. and Turkey with this project."

Reiterating that Turkey is already cooperating with the EU, the U.N., the Financial Action Task Force and all other international organizations related to this field, Şimşek said: "When we look around, we see terror attacks have turned into daily incidents, and are no longer rare events; we need to fight against this. Financial intelligence units should have a larger role in this matter." He added that the Turkish Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) signed a memorandum of understanding with 48 countries across the world and negotiations are continuing with a few countries. "Money laundering and the financing of terrorism are not simple crimes. On the contrary, those are very serious criminal activities that threaten national and global economies. They affect investments, employment and macro-financial stability in a negative way. All these are very serious risks. Within this scope, a full-scale fight is necessary," Şimşek stressed.