ISTANBUL (Halbeeg News) – Turkey’s interior minister said Saturday Ankara would eventually send detained Islamic State members back to their home countries, declaring, “We are not going to keep them until the end of time.”
Minister Suleyman Soylu said the refusal of European countries to repatriate their citizens who fought for IS in Syria “is not acceptable to us” and that “it’s also irresponsible.”
Speaking to reporters in Istanbul, Soylu cited Britain and the Netherlands, but noted they were not the only European countries to revoke the citizenship of IS fighters to prevent Turkey from sending them home.
Turkey captured IS members who were previously in the custody of Kurdish forces during an offensive last month in northeastern Syria against a Kurdish militia Turkey considers terrorists.
Soylu’s comments were Turkey’s latest in a series of appeals to European countries to repatriate their citizens who belonged to IS.
Many European countries have procrastinated, citing concerns over public resistance and security problems.VOA
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