French anticipation in the face of Turkish threats to deport ISIS detainees
France faces a major threat after Turkey announced
the deportation of ISIS detainees to their countries at a time when European
countries are reluctant to do so.
French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner announced before the parliament on Tuesday, November 12 that his country will repatriate 11 suspected French militants from Turkey, adding that about 250 have returned to France under an agreement with Turkey since 2014.
Turkey says it is holding 287 militants in northeastern Syria, as well as hundreds of other ISIS suspects, while France insists it will not receive those who joined ISIS in Syria.
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are holding between 400 and 500 French nationals in their prisons, including about 60 ex-combatants. Meanwhile, Paris wants to conclude an agreement with Iraq on the trial and reception of its citizens after their exit from Syria.
French concern
"Paris is facing a terrorist threat and is worried about the return of jihadists from Turkey," the French daily Le Figaro said on Wednesday, November 13, noting that French security services are interested in monitoring French terrorists held by the Kurds and the dangers that could come to the country.
A few days before the commemoration of the Paris attacks on November 13, 2015, Ankara's announcement of the deportation of foreign jihadists and their families raised fears at a time when the terrorist threat remains "very high" in France, the newspaper quoted a security source as saying.
The status of French jihadists in Turkey is known and is coordinated between Paris and Ankara. About 10 to 15 French nationals were apprehended who were prosecuted by the Turkish judiciary and placed in Turkish prisons, and a number of them have been tried.
But the 11 jihadists that Ankara has announced will soon be deported to France are not part of this group, the newspaper said.
Le Figaro concluded that the situation of French jihadists in Turkey is "under control", while the situation of French jihadists in Kurdish prisons in Syria is a concern.
Meanwhile, the French newspaper Le Parisien said that, according to the French intelligence services, 119 extremists in France have been released from prison and are under close surveillance.
An intelligence source told the newspaper that ISIS is no longer able to carry out attacks in France or in Europe the size of the Paris attacks that targeted the Bataclan theater in Paris and Stade de France that left 130 people dead. But the source believes that the danger comes from the French and foreign ISIS militants who fought in Syria and Iraq.
According to government data, 1,700 French traveled to join ISIS, 300 of whom were killed, while France is awaiting 700 men and 500 children that Erdogan has threatened to deport to Paris.
Treated cautiously
In June 2019, the French Foreign Ministry said 12 children of French terrorists were taken home, the oldest of whom was 10 years old, reinforcing the trend of not receiving adults and having reservations about the return of mothers, some of whom have been accused of acting as proponents of ISIS.
The dominating trend on the French street is against the return of ISIS detainees, including children. Charles Lister, director of the Counterterrorism and Extremism Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, explained that many Europeans disagree with repatriation efforts and see even children as potential dangers.
He said in an interview that a February poll showed that two-thirds of the French people oppose repatriating children.
