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Turkey’s Links to Hamas Could Jeopardize FATF Membership, Say Analysts

By Colby Adams

The Turkish government's longstanding relationship with Hamas has stalled the country's passage of counterterrorist financing measures and threatened its involvement with an influential intergovernmental group, analysts say. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) threatened in October to suspend the nation's membership should it fail to outlaw terrorist financing and establish a legal framework to freeze the funds of terror financiers. The 36-member group said in an Oct. 19 statement that it was "deeply concerned by Turkey's continued failure" to do so since the problems were first noted in 2007. Why Turkish officials have done little to address the problems, first...

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