Turkey: US citizen Daesh terrorist repatriated

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey has repatriated one Daesh/ISIS terrorist from the U.S. and this week will deport several more terrorists back to Germany, the country’s Interior Ministry said on Monday.

“A U.S. citizen Daesh terrorist has been repatriated after the completion of legal procedures,” Ismail Catakli, ministry spokesman, told Anadolu Agency.

Seven German national Daesh terrorists will also be deported on Nov. 14, he added.

"Turkey will extradite them no matter what," he stressed.

Turkey’s interior minister on Saturday said Turkey would start extraditing captured Daesh/ISIS terrorists on Nov. 11 to their home countries.

The issue of the handling of Daesh/ISIS members and their families detained in Syria -- including foreign members of the terror group -- has been controversial, with Turkey arguing foreign-born terrorists should be repatriated to their countries of origin.

Ankara has said that it will send Daesh/ISIS members back to their countries, but several European countries have refused, saying the terrorists were denationalized.

Turkey has so far deported 7,500 Daesh/ISIS members, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week, adding that there are currently 1,149 Daesh/ISIS terrorists in Turkish prisons.

Since Turkey recognized Daesh/ISIS as a terrorist group in 2013, the Turkish state has been attacked by Daesh/ISIS terrorists numerous times, including 10 suicide bombings, seven bombings, and four armed attacks which killed 315 people, including police officers and soldiers, and injured hundreds.

In response to the attacks, Turkey launched anti-terror operations at home and abroad, neutralizing 3,500 Daesh/ISIS terrorists and arresting 5,500.