Detained extremists: Turkey wants to send back seven German IS fighters

Turkey was "not a hotel" for foreign extremists, Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said last week - and announced that it would send imprisoned supporters of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia back to their home countries. Now Turkey has begun the deportations of the extremists.

The state news agency Anadolu According Ankara wants to deport already on Monday a German IS fighter. On Thursday, at least six more extremists will follow. They were detained in detention centers and should be sent back on November 14, said Turkish Interior Ministry spokesman Ismail Catakli, according to the news agency.

The spokesman also announced that a US jihadist had been expelled on Monday. However, he made no information about which country the man was deported to.

European states refuse recovery so far

Turkish Interior Minister Soylu announced on Friday that Turkey will send back foreign ISIS supporters from Monday to their home countries. According to Soylu, there were around 1,200 foreign IS supporters in captivity. Just during the recent offensive of Turkey in northern Syria 287 were captured.

Several European countries have so far refused to recapture IS members who had captured the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) led by the Kurdish militia YPG in northern Syria.

In Turkey, the refusal of the West has met with criticism to bring back its own citizens. In the West, in turn, because of the Turkish offensive against the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG in northern Syria, there was concern that the tens of thousands of IS supporters in Kurdish detention could seize the opportunity to erupt. In fact, some IS fighters managed to escape during the fighting, but part of it was recovered, some by the Turkish army.