Turkey has frozen the assets of 377 individuals linked to terrorist groups, including Daesh and the PKK, reports said Wednesday.
The Treasury and Finance Ministry announced that the assets of members of the PKK, Daesh, the far-left DHKP-C and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), the terror group responsible for the 2016 quelled coup attempt in Turkey, have been blocked.
The freeze affected some 205 FETÖ members, including the group’s ringleader Fetullah Gülen, who resides in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.
FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Gülen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which killed 251 people and injured 2,734 more.
FETÖ ran an extensive campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary for years.
The assets of 77 PKK members, nine DHKP-C members and 86 members of the Daesh terror group were also blocked, according to the ministry. The PKK members whose assets have been frozen include the terrorist group's acting leader Murat Karayılan and senior figures Cemil Bayık, Fehman Hüseyin and Duran Kalkan, as well as the ringleader of the PKK's Syrian offshoot, the YPG, Ferhat Abdi Şahin, also known as Mazlum Kobani.
In its more than 40-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
Turkey recognized Daesh as a terrorist group in 2013 and since then, the country has been attacked numerous times, including 10 suicide bombings, seven bombings and four armed assaults, which have killed 315 people and injured hundreds more.
In response, Turkey launched military and police operations both inside and outside the country, capturing top Daesh members in counterterrorism efforts at home and in Syria.
Turkish intelligence played a key role in the death of Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by detaining and extraditing one of his aides to Iraq, who provided U.S. authorities with critical information that played a key role in locating him.
According to Interior Ministry figures, at least 2,000 people were arrested and 7,000 others deported in operations against Daesh in Turkey over the past few years, while around 70,000 people have been denied entry into the country over their suspected links to the terrorist group.
