Turkey has started the repatriation of captured ISIS terrorists after the interior minister warned last week that Ankara would do so even if the prisoners had their citizenship revoked, APA reports citing Daily Sabah.
A U.S. national was deported Monday following the completion of legal proceedings, Interior Ministry Spokesperson Ismail Cataklı said.
Seven German nationals terrorists are scheduled to be repatriated Thursday, Cataklı added.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that there are 1,201 ISIS terrorists in Turkish prisons, while Turkey has also captured 287 fighters in Syria.
The issue of repatriating citizens who fought for ISIS in Syria remains a divisive problem in Europe, with many countries refusing to accept the terrorists.
Turkey has criticized Western countries for refusing to repatriate their citizens who left to join ISIS in Syria and Iraq, and stripping some of them of their citizenship. Although the 1961 New York Convention made it illegal to leave people stateless, several countries, including Britain and France, have not ratified it, and recent cases have triggered prolonged legal battles. The U.K. alone has stripped more than 100 people of their citizenship for allegedly joining terrorist groups abroad.
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