Turkey Begins Deportation of Captured ISIS Fighters to Home Countries

Turkey has deported an Islamic State fighter from the United States back to his home country and is preparing to deport 11 others to France, seven to Germany, and others to Denmark and Ireland later this week, a Turkish Interior Ministry spokesman said on Monday. Last week, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Turkey would begin the deportations, even if the foreign fighters had lost their original citizenships. Denmark, Germany and the UK have all revoked the citizenships of nationals who went to fight for ISIS, in a move aimed at preventing their return. Ankara says that it intends to deport around 2,500 captured ISIS jihadists. It currently holds 813 fighters in 12 deportation centers. It has repeatedly called on European countries to take back their citizens who traveled to the region to fight for ISIS. Kurdish militias are holding at least 10,000 ISIS fighters – including around 2,000 Europeans – in Syria. Turkey’s recent incursion into Syria, aimed at pushing the Kurdish forces away from the Syria-Turkey border, has raised questions about what will happen to ISIS fighters held by the Kurds in the border region.