Turkey freezes al-Qaeda, Taliban assets

         
Turkey has imposed financial sanctions on some 350 people and dozens of organizations that have been blacklisted by the United Nations Security Council for alleged links to al-Qaeda or the Taliban.                  

The move, made public late Thursday, would freeze any assets those individuals or groups may have in Turkey.              

The sanctions come at a time when Turkey has been accused of supporting groups linked to al-Qaeda which are launching attacks on Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime. Turkey denies backing those groups.                

This month, Turkey's Interior Minister Muammer Guler said police had arrested 129 people in 104 operations targeting groups linked to al-Qaeda groups since 2012. He did not give further details.                  

Militants tied to al-Qaeda carried out attacks in Istanbul in 2003 that killed 58 people.          


AP