Turkey deports 11 French nationals with alleged ISIS membership

Turkey’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that 11 “foreign terrorist fighters” had been sent back to France.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Turkey continued the deportation of foreign fighters in its custody with the return on Monday of 11 French nationals accused of membership to the so-called Islamic State.

Turkey’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that 11 “foreign terrorist fighters” had been sent back to France.

There were no further details provided about the identity of the suspects.

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner had previously confirmed that France would repatriate from Turkey 11 nationals who are suspected Islamic State fighters. 

Turkey began to repatriate foreign fighters, especially those with membership to the terror group, in its detention in early November, starting with a US national.

The identity of most of the suspects has not been revealed.

Related Article: Turkey starts repatriation of foreign ISIS fighters, beginning with American

In November, Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu warned that Ankara would return foreign Islamic State detainees to their native countries, even if their citizenship had been revoked.

According to Soylu, Turkey currently has around 1,200 foreign Islamic State members in its prisons, including relatives of the suspects.

“We are not a hotel” for any country’s Islamic State members, he said at the time.

Many nations in the European Union or abroad fear that due to a lack of evidence of criminal wrongdoing, Islamic State supporters could be quickly released once they appear in court after returning home.

Elsewhere, on Monday, an Australian national suspected of fighting with a foreign terrorist group in Syria faced pre-trial after he was arrested upon his arrival from Turkey to Australia.