Turkey starts deporting Islamic State militants to native countries

Turkey's Interior Ministry said on November 11 that they have started returning captured militants from the extremist "Islamic State" (IS) group to the countries they come from. Amongst them is a US national who had been already deported and a German and a Danish national would be returned later in the day, said the spokesperson of the Ministry, Ismail Catakli, to the media. The remaining two have been held in deportation centers while legal proceedings are underway. Apart from this, seven other German nationals would be returned on November 14, Catakli said. Likewise, Turkey is preparing to deport foreign fighters from France, Ireland and the Netherlands, among other countries, he added.  

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Turkey wishes to deport IS members in its prison

The deportations follow Turkish interior minister, Suleyman Soylu's statement in which he objected to the fact that IS members were kept in Turkey as if it were a hotel. The minister also mentioned that deportations will be done even if the native countries' revoke the citizenship of militants. It is still unclear if what he said it possible and how many jihadists will be deported. There are 1,201 Islamic State prisoners in Turkish prisons, while Turkey had captured 287 militants in Syria said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last Friday. 

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Militants in Turkey and Syria

Turkey has repeatedly criticized European countries for being reluctant to take back their nationals who have been fighting for an IS "caliphate" in Syria and Iraq. It has been a common trend amongst European countries to be stripping the militants of their citizenship to stop their repatriation amid fears of a political backlash and security reasons. More than 100 jihadists who were from the UK were snatched of their citizenship. Turkey wants to send up to 1,300 foreign jihadis to their homes in Europe and elsewhere. Likewise, Syrian Kurdish forces are holding around 11,000 IS fighters in prisons in northeastern Syria, along with tens of thousands of women and children who are family members of which one-fifth are reported to be European. German Interior Ministry reported that there are more than 80 German IS members are imprisoned in Syria and Iraq.

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(With inputs from agencies)