Turkey has lifted its freeze on the assets of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Interior Minister Anas Hasan Khattab in line with a recent United Nations Security Council (UNSC) decision, according to a presidential decree published in the Official Gazette on Saturday.
The decree, signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, announced amendments to Turkey’s asset-freezing list prepared in accordance with UNSC resolutions on individuals and entities linked to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and al-Qaeda.
The statement said the provisions concerning “Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani [Sharaa] and Anas Hasan Khattab, who were listed as associated with ISIL and al-Qaeda,” had been lifted. The move came under the law on the Prevention of the Financing of Terrorism.
The decision can be challenged at the Council of State within 60 days of its publication, and its implementation will be overseen by the finance minister, the decree said.
The UNSC on Thursday adopted a resolution removing sanctions on al-Sharaa and Khattab. The US-drafted measure was approved by 14 council members, with China abstaining.
The US Treasury Department also removed both men from its sanctions list following the UN’s decision.
Al-Sharaa, who became Syria’s president after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in December, is due to meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.
According to a UN report seen by Reuters in July, sanctions monitors found no “active ties” this year between al-Qaeda and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist group that emerged from al-Qaeda’s former Syrian branch and led the offensive that resulted in the removal of Assad.
Al-Sharaa enjoys close relations with the Turkish government and has visited President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan several times since becoming president in January.