Turkey began on Monday (November 11th) to expel foreign members of the Islamic State organization it holds, announcing the dismissal of an American jihadist and the next expulsion of 24 others, including 11 French and 10 Germans.
"An American foreign terrorist has been deported from Turkey after all the steps have been completed," Interior Ministry spokesman Ismail Catakli said, without specifying where to go.
According to him, two other jihadists, one German and the second Danish, should also be returned Monday to their country and seven other "foreign terrorists of German origin will be deported Thursday," he added, quoted by the state agency Anadolu.
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Proceedings are underway for the next referral of 15 other jihadists: 11 French, two Germans and two Irish, according to the same source.
The beginning of the expulsion of foreign jihadists was announced Friday by the Turkish Minister of the Interior, Süleyman Soylu. "No need to run in all directions: we will send you members of the Islamic State, they are yours, do what you want," he said in a speech in Ankara.
The Turkish Minister did not specify which countries were involved in this measure, but had addressed himself to "Europe" during his speech.
Several thousand repatriated jihadists ?
Long suspected of allowing jihadists to cross its border to join Syria after the start of the conflict that has torn the country since 2011, Turkey, hit by several attacks committed by the Islamic State group, joined the anti-jihadist coalition in 2015.
But Ankara has been accused in recent weeks of weakening the fight against the dispersed elements of the jihadist organization by launching, on October 9, an offensive against the Kurdish militia of the units of protection of the people (YPG), the spearhead of the fight against the Islamic State group.
Public TV channel TRT Haber reports that the Turkish state plans to repatriate some 2,500 jihadists, most of them to European Union countries, and that 813 suspected jihadists are currently awaiting deportation to 12 detention centers.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that 1,201 ISIS jihadists were being held in Turkish jails and that Turkey had captured 287 in Syria during its military offensive against Kurdish militias in the north-east of the country.
Ankara long criticizes the refusal of its European allies, including France, to take charge of their nationals who have gone to fight in the Syrian-Iraq zone.
With AFP and Reuters