Assets brought back to Turkey to face no inquiry

By Fatih Erkan Dogan

ANKARA (AA) - There will be no inquiry into assets brought to Turkey by citizens within the scope of the repatriation law, Finance Minister Naci Agbal said on Tuesday.

"We will not ask questions for the history of the capital. Once one of our citizen brought his or her money we say 'This is your money. No inquiry', no probe as long as you placed it on record,” Agbal said in an interview with a private TV channel.

The repatriation law was put into effect on Aug. 23 to urge Turkish citizens to bring their assets to Turkey in a bid to stimulate growth in the wake of the July 15 coup attempt. The application period for the law was set to end by Dec. 31.

Agbal added that the deadline could be extended if need be and stressed that the law was enacted in accordance with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) norms.

The FATF describes itself as "an inter-governmental body aimed to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system".