Kozanoğlu emphasized that Turkey should not have been on this list under normal circumstances, saying, "The countries on the grey list are mostly those in Africa struggling with poverty and civil wars, where the state has difficulty asserting its sovereignty. These countries are both unable to take sufficient measures against money laundering and unable to demonstrate state power to prevent the financing of terrorism."
He pointed out that there are public comments suggesting that countries unable to collect taxes regularly are included in this list, adding, "The issue is not directly related to taxes. It concerns the financing of crime and terrorism or the laundering of profits from crime. Turkey was placed on the grey list in 2021 for these reasons. The official statement claims that we exited the list under the leadership of our President. If we exited the grey list under the President's leadership, he was also the leader when we entered it."
'No Change in Capital Inflows'
Kozanoğlu noted that the markets had already expected Turkey's removal from the grey list, saying, "If we hadn't been removed from the grey list, it would have been a bad surprise. Since our removal was anticipated, it did not cause significant changes in the stock market, other markets, or exchange rates." He also mentioned that since the March 31 Local Elections, there has been more capital inflow into Turkey than expected and that contrary to popular belief, there would not be a further increase in capital inflows. He explained that citizens are mistaken in thinking that investors would prefer Turkey after the grey list development. "Investment funds do not invest in countries on the grey list according to their contracts. There's a belief that they will invest now. What is meant here are mainly institutional investors like pension funds and insurance funds. Yes, they do not enter countries on the grey list, but another condition they seek is that a country must be rated as investable. Turkey is not yet at that level because these funds look for secure investments," he said.
