Turkey deports ISIS members without security coordination with EU

Moaaz Mohamed

The Turkish TV channel TRT said on Monday that Turkey had started the deportation of ISIS militants back to their home countries. Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Friday that Ankara would begin to send ISIS militants back to their home countries from Monday.

Turkey’s Interior Ministry spokesman Ismail Catakli told Anadolu Agency, that the legal proceedings for 11 French-national terrorists “who had been captured in Syrian territory are in progress”.

Catakli added that one American citizen was deported and 7 others – Germans – would be deported to their home country after completing all procedures.

The Turkish aggression on northern Syria has intensified fears of the deportation of ISIS fighters to their home countries. Ankara started military operations in northern Syria on Oct. 9.

In 2017, the number of jihadist-inspired attacks more than doubled to 33, compared to the previous year, according to Europol.

The European Counter Terrorism Center said in a report released on Nov. 11that the return of foreign ISIS fighters to Europe will pose a great threat, citing that they have been impacted by the takfiri thought of ISIS.

The report has stressed that the return of foreign fighters from conflict areas is problematic, citing that the returnees would be like a “time bomb”.