French anticipation in the face of Turkish threats to deport ISIS detainees

Shaimaa Hafezy

France faces a major threat after Turkey announced the deportation of ISIS detainees to their countries at a time when European countries are reluctant to do so.

French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner announced before the parliament on Tuesday, November 12 that his country will repatriate 11 suspected French militants from Turkey, adding that about 250 have returned to France under an agreement with Turkey since 2014.

Turkey says it is holding 287 militants in northeastern Syria, as well as hundreds of other ISIS suspects, while France insists it will not receive those who joined ISIS in Syria.

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are holding between 400 and 500 French nationals in their prisons, including about 60 ex-combatants. Meanwhile, Paris wants to conclude an agreement with Iraq on the trial and reception of its citizens after their exit from Syria.

French concern

“Paris is facing a terrorist threat and is worried about the return of jihadists from Turkey,” the French daily Le Figaro said on Wednesday, November 13, noting that French security services are interested in monitoring French terrorists held by the Kurds and the dangers that could come to the country.

A few days before the commemoration of the Paris attacks on November 13, 2015, Ankara’s announcement of the deportation of foreign jihadists and their families raised fears at a time when the terrorist threat remains “very high” in France, the newspaper quoted a security source as saying.

The status of French jihadists in Turkey is known and is coordinated between Paris and Ankara. About 10 to 15 French nationals were apprehended who were prosecuted by the Turkish judiciary and placed in Turkish prisons, and a number of them have been tried.

But the 11 jihadists that Ankara has announced will soon be deported to France are not part of this group, the newspaper said.

Le Figaro concluded that the situation of French jihadists in Turkey is “under control”, while the situation of French jihadists in Kurdish prisons in Syria is a concern.

Meanwhile, the French newspaper Le Parisien said that, according to the French intelligence services, 119 extremists in France have been released from prison and are under close surveillance.

An intelligence source told the newspaper that ISIS is no longer able to carry out attacks in France or in Europe the size of the Paris attacks that targeted the Bataclan theater in Paris and Stade de France that left 130 people dead. But the source believes that the danger comes from the French and foreign ISIS militants who fought in Syria and Iraq.

According to government data, 1,700 French traveled to join ISIS, 300 of whom were killed, while France is awaiting 700 men and 500 children that Erdogan has threatened to deport to Paris.

Treated cautiously

In June 2019, the French Foreign Ministry said 12 children of French terrorists were taken home, the oldest of whom was 10 years old, reinforcing the trend of not receiving adults and having reservations about the return of mothers, some of whom have been accused of acting as proponents of ISIS.

The dominating trend on the French street is against the return of ISIS detainees, including children. Charles Lister, director of the Counterterrorism and Extremism Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, explained that many Europeans disagree with repatriation efforts and see even children as potential dangers.

He said in an interview that a February poll showed that two-thirds of the French people oppose repatriating children.

Turkish motives

Turkish political analyst Mehmet Zahid Gul said in a television interview that the debate over ISIS prisoners has been an issue for five or more years, but Turkey’s entry into action came as a result of its pledge to the United States to take control of three key areas where terrorist detainees are present.

Gul added that the detention camps are a real focus for spreading extremist thought. There are more than 72,000 people at the Al-Hol camp, and if they are not all convicted, they certainly carry extremist ideas, so they become time bombs that could explode anywhere in the world.

Meanwhile, Volkmar Kabisch, an investigative journalist specializing in extremist groups, noted that it could be seen that Turkey has the right to deport ISIS prisoners to Europe, but the biggest difficulty from the point of view of the European security services is “what did those in prisons and detention centers do in order to be tried in European countries, which is because of the laws in those countries.”

European security services, including Germany and France, are not on the ground in Syria or Iraq to be able to gather information on the nature of terrorist acts carried out by these terrorists, he said in an interview with Deutsche Welle, but they can obtain and prosecute the files of these people.

He believes that it is mainly the task of European governments, especially France and Germany, to deal with ISIS detainees and prosecute them.

Political revenge

“There was a conviction that Turkey would stand by threatening Europe with ISIS but would not take any decision,” French journalist Mustapha Tossa said in a televised interview.

France says that there must be Turkish-French cooperation in this regard and that there is a protocol of cooperation between the two sides under which the deportation of people occurs in coordination, but on the other hand Turkey wants to impose a political and security reality on European countries, including France, according to Tossa.

He added that France has a security doctrine that people should be prosecuted in areas where they have engaged in terrorist operations, namely under Iraqi and Syrian law, and not in France, stressing that the escalation of Turkish threats to Europeans was caused by European countries’ rejection of the Turkish operation in northern Syria.

EU foreign ministers signed on Monday, November 11 a legal framework allowing for sanctions against Turkey over its gas exploration activities off the coast of Cyprus, he also mentioned.

The resolution aims to punish Ankara for violating the Cypriot maritime economic zone by drilling off the divided island.

The move reflects the deterioration of EU relations with Turkey and follows a separate decision to halt new arms sales from EU governments to Ankara due to its October 9 incursion into northeastern Syria.

With this decision, the European Union will be able to impose a travel ban and asset freeze on individuals and entities connected with exploration activities in the territorial waters of Cyprus.

According to an EU statement, in cases of disputed territorial waters, sanctions could target activities that could jeopardize or impede an agreement on border demarcation.

The EU’s relations with Turkey have deteriorated after Ankara’s years-long bid to join the European family faltered, and with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s campaign against opponents. Many EU states say Turkey is no longer eligible to be a candidate, or a member, because of its non-compliance with democratic standards.