Turkey to Send Captured ISIS Fighters to Home Countries
Turkey announced Saturday that it would send
captured ISIS members back to their home countries, complaining about European
inaction on the matter.
“That is not acceptable to us. It’s also
irresponsible,” Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said of Europe leaving Turkey
to deal with the prisoners alone.
“We will send the captured ISIS members to
their countries,” he told reporters.
Turkey has captured some escaped ISIS members
in northeastern Syria over the last month after it launched a military
incursion there.
Ankara launched its offensive against the
Kurdish People’s Protection Units following President Donald Trump’s abrupt
withdrawal of 1,000 US troops from northern Syria in early October. The YPG
helped the United States defeat ISIS in Syria.
Last week, Ankara and Moscow agreed to remove
the Kurdish fighters to a depth of at least 30 km south of the border.
Under the deal, Turkish and Russian troops in
armored vehicles held their first joint ground patrols in northeast Syria on
Friday.
