Turkey to repatriate ISIS detainees 'by end of the year'

Turkish authorities started sending the militants to their home countries last week

German ISIS detainees and their families arrive at Tegel Airport in Berlin, on November 14. Reuters

Turkey will have repatriated most of its ISIS detainees to their home countries by the end of the year, the interior minister said on Tuesday.

Turkish authorities started repatriating the militants last week, with Ankara saying it has captured 287 ISIS followers in north-east Syria, where Turkish troops launched an assault against the Kurdish YPG militia last month, and has hundreds more suspects in detention.

"The number of detainees to be repatriated by the year-end depends on how long the processes take, but especially for Europe, the process is under way," Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told Reuters in Ankara.

"I think we will have sent a large part of them to their countries by the end of the year," he added.