City
Epaper

Turkey begins deporting foreign IS members

By IANS | Updated: November 11, 2019 15:20 IST

Turkey has started deporting foreign fighters of the Islamic State (IS) terror group, starting off with an American and soon to be followed by seven Germans, an Interior Ministry spokesman said on Monday.

Open in App

"A US citizen IS terrorist has been repatriated after the completion of legal procedures," Ministry spokesman Ismail Catakli told the state-run Anadolu Agency, adding that the Germans will be deported on Thursday.

"Turkey will extradite them no matter what," he said.

Three more IS members will deported on Monday, Catakli said but did not reveal their nationalities.

He also did not immediately provide further information on the IS members but said they were being held in deportation centres, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu had warned last week that Ankara would begin to send IS members to their home countries on Monday even if their citizenships have been revoked.

Soylu did not provide any numbers or say which countries they would be sent back to.

He added that Turkey was not "a hotel" for IS terrorists.

Turkey aims to extradite around 2,500 IS terrorists, the majority of whom will be sent to European Union (EU) nations, state broadcaster TRT Haber said.

Ankara has repeatedly called on European countries, including France, to take back their citizens who are IS fighters.

Europeans comprise a fifth of the around 10,000 IS members held captive in Syria. Denmark, Germany and Britain have so far revoked some citizenships.

Turkey has so far deported 7,500 IS members, Anadolu reported citing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying last week, adding that there were currently 1,149 terrorists in Turkish prisons.

Since Ankara recognized IS as a terrorist group in 2013, the Turkish state has been attacked by the group numerous times, including 10 suicide bombings, seven bombings, and four armed attacks which killed 315 people.

( With inputs from IANS )

Tags: TurkeyAnadolu AgencyAnkaraHurriyet Daily News
Open in App

Related Stories

NationalMumbai-Bound Virgin Atlantic Flight Stuck at Turkish Military Airport With Over 250 Flyers

NationalMumbai-London Atlantic Flight Makes Emergency Landing, More Than 200 Indian Flyers Stuck in Turkey With No Aid

InternationalTurkey Hotel Fire: 10 Dead, 32 Injured in Devastating Blaze At Ski Resort

InternationalTurkey Terrorist Attack: 5 Killed, 22 Injured in Blast, Firing on TUSAS Aerospace Company Headquarters

InternationalTurkey Lifts Instagram Ban After Agreement on Compliance with Local Laws

International Realted Stories

InternationalHouthis say Russian sailors injured in US airstrikes on Yemen's Red Sea port

InternationalNo justification for such acts of terror: Iranian Prez condemns J&K attack in phone call with PM Modi

International"Opportunity to talk to a wide audience": UNICEF Representative on World Health Summit Regional Meeting in India

InternationalUAE delegation concludes official visit to Morocco to strengthen cooperation in combating money laundering, terrorism financing

InternationalRussia confirms for first time North Korean troop dispatch to Ukraine war: Reports