The United States and Türkiye worked together to impose sanctions on a pair of individuals linked to funding Syria-based groups affiliated with al-Qaida already sanctioned by the U.S. and the United Nations, the countries announced Tuesday.
The sanctions target Omar Alsheak and Kubilay Sarı for financing the U.S. and U.N.-designated terror groups, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement.
"As terrorist groups continue to seek access to the international financial system, collaboration with our partners increases our ability to more effectively disrupt these facilitation networks," said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.
"Treasury remains committed to working with Türkiye and others in the region to disrupt the flow of funds to terrorist groups and to degrade their capacity to operate," he added.
Alsheak is a leader with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, serving on its Shura Council, and was a financial leader in its predecessor group, al-Nusrah Front, which was tightly linked with al-Qaida, the Treasury said.
Sarı is part of an Uzbek extremist group affiliated with al-Qaida that operates primarily in Syria's Idlib province, and received funds to purchase weapons including mortars and firearms for Katibat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, it added.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken hailed the joint action, saying it "underscores our commitment to collaborating with our Turkish partners in degrading terrorist financing networks across the region."
Turkish authorities are freezing Alsheak and Sarı's assets that are subject to Turkish jurisdiction. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Ankara "will continue to take effective steps on countering terrorism financing, and cooperate with its international partners on the issue."
The joint action is the second this year after Washington and Ankara froze the assets of seven Daesh terrorist organization-affiliated individuals on Jan. 5 and follows another designation by Ankara this month.
Turkish sanctions targeted two others, Afghan nationals linked to Daesh and al-Qaida, in line with U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Türkiye was one of the first countries to declare Daesh a terrorist organization in 2013.
