Turkey starts returning ISIS terrorists by deporting an American
Turkey starts returning ISIS terrorists by deporting an American

Turkey on Monday deported a US citizen who fought for the ISIS terror group as the government began a new push to returning ISIS terrorists to their home countries, a Turkish official said. A German and a Danish national would also be repatriated, while seven other German nationals would be returned on Nov. 14, Interior […]

Turkey on Monday deported a US citizen who fought for the ISIS terror group as the government began a new push to returning ISIS terrorists to their home countries, a Turkish official said.

A German and a Danish national would also be repatriated, while seven other German nationals would be returned on Nov. 14, Interior Ministry spokesman Ismail Catakli said as returning ISIS terrorists to their homes. Iran News quotes what AP reported.

The US and Denmark did not comment on Ankara’s announcement. Germany said it will not refuse entry to its own citizens.

The move comes just over a week after the Turkish interior minister said Turkey was not a “hotel” for ISIS terrorists and criticized Western nations for their reluctance to take back citizens who had joined the ranks of the terror group as it sought to establish a “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria.

In Denmark, the weekly newspaper Weekendavisen said the name of the Danish citizen being extradited was Ahmad Salem al-Haj, who faces terror charges in Denmark.

 

While Turkey has quietly deported ISIS sympathizers for years, it raised the issue more forcefully after Western nations refused to back its offensive in northeastern Syria against Syrian Kurdish militiamen, whom Ankara considers terrorists linked to Kurdish insurgents fighting inside Turkey. Many countries have voiced concerns that the Turkish incursion would lead to a resurgence of Daesh.

Catakli did not provide further information on the Daesh terrorists being sent home but said they were held in Turkish deportation centers.

“This morning, a foreign terrorist from the United States was deported from Turkey after the procedures at the deportation center were completed,” Catakli said.

Two Irish nationals, two German nationals and 11 French nationals who were captured in Syria would also be transferred to their countries of origin soon, he added.

Turkey has been accused of enabling the influx of thousands of foreign Daesh sympathizers into Syria over the years and at the height of the terror group’s power, the Turkish border crossings were the main route for those hoping to join Daesh in Syria.

Turkey denies that it enabled foreigners to cross into Syria. It later stepped up security at its borders, including profiling possible ISIS terrorists at airports and building a wall along with parts of its porous border.

Turkey was hit by a wave of ISIS attacks in 2015 and 2016, including one by a gunman who opened fire at an Istanbul nightclub during New Year celebrations in the early hours of 2017 and killed 39 people.

In Berlin, German Foreign Ministry spokesman Christofer Burger said Turkey told Germany about its plan to deport one person on Monday, seven on Thursday and two more German nationals on Friday. The group comprises three men, five women, and two children.

So far, Burger said, German authorities cannot confirm that the 10 were involved with Daesh. There are indications that two of the women were in Syria, but neither of the children is believed to have been in Syria.

There was no dispute about these people’s German citizenship, he said, and therefore no doubt about them being let back into the country — Germany can’t and doesn’t refuse entry to its own citizens.

Turkey has over the past few weeks criticized Western nations, including Britain and the Netherlands, for refusing to take back their nationals who had joined the terror group and vowed to send back ISIS terrorists — even if their citizenship has been revoked.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said last week that about 1,200 foreign ISIS terrorists were in Turkish prisons and 287 members, including women and children, were recaptured during Turkey’s offensive in Syria.

Several European countries, including Britain, have stripped Daesh terrorists of their nationalities, to prevent their return.

  • source : Iran Daily, Irannews