Turkey to repatriate 11 French ISIS detainees in early December: Interior minister

Turkey will send 11 French ISIS militants back to France in the beginning of December, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said on Nov. 28. Turkey began the process of repatriating the ISIS detainees earlier this month, sending several suspects to their home countries.

Duvar English

Turkey will repatriate 11 French ISIS detainees early in December, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said on Nov. 28, as Ankara pressed on with a repatriation program.

"This week we will carry out repatriations to Belgium and Ireland on Friday [Nov. 29] and Saturday [Nov. 30]. Also, we will send 11 French national Daesh members back to France at the beginning of December," Soylu said, referring to another acronym used for ISIS.

The repatriation move follows Soylu’s remarks early in November that Turkey was “not a hotel” for foreign ISIS militants.

Turkey has repeatedly called on European countries, including France, to take back their citizens fighting for the jihadists.

Soylu warned on Nov. 9 that Ankara would begin to send back ISIS militants to their home even if their citizenships had been revoked.

Ankara says it is has hundreds of jihadists in detention, and has accused European countries of being loath to take back citizens who traveled to join ISIS militants fighting in Middle East wars, mainly in Syria and Iraq.