Turkey's decision on Colani: Published in the Official Gazette

An interesting decision was published in the Official Gazette dated 8 November 2025. The decision regarding the freezing of the assets of two individuals linked to ISIS and Al-Qaeda in Turkey was lifted.

Accordingly, the provisions concerning the individuals named ‘Abu Muhammad al-Colani and Anas Hasan Hattab’ in the section titled ‘Individuals Associated with ISIS and Al-Qaeda’ in the annex to the Council of Ministers' decision dated 30 September 2013, which froze the assets held by individuals, organisations or entities listed in the relevant decisions of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), have been lifted. ‘Abu Muhammad al-Colani and Anas Hasan Hattab’ have been withdrawn.

ONE IS PRESIDENT, OTHER IS INTERIOR MINISTER

Of the names mentioned in the decision, Colani currently serves as president of the interim government in Syria. Colani, who currently uses the name ‘Ahmed Shara,’ is known to have been associated with Al-Qaeda before taking up this position. Sanctions imposed on Colani by the United Nations were also lifted recently.

Hattab was known as Colani’s second-in-command when Colani was the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Hattab, one of the key figures in the overthrow of Assad in Syria, currently holds the position of Minister of the Interior. The Turkish Ministry of the Interior had published a report in recent years linking Hattab to ISIS.

The Presidential Decision on the matter was published in the Official Gazette and came into force.

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Türkiye'den Colani kararı: Resmi Gazete'de yayımlandı, published in BirGün newspaper on November 8, 2025.