Turkish-backed Syrian fighters patrol the northern Syrian Kurdish town of Tal Abyad on the border between Syria and Turkey on October 31, 2019. AFP
Turkish-backed Syrian fighters patrol the northern Syrian Kurdish town of Tal Abyad on the border between Syria and Turkey on October 31, 2019. AFP
Turkish-backed Syrian fighters patrol the northern Syrian Kurdish town of Tal Abyad on the border between Syria and Turkey on October 31, 2019. AFP
Turkish-backed Syrian fighters patrol the northern Syrian Kurdish town of Tal Abyad on the border between Syria and Turkey on October 31, 2019. AFP

Turkey says it will send back foreign ISIS fighters


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The Turkish government said on Saturday it would send foreign ISIS fighters captured in Syria back to their countries of origin, despite the unwillingness of European states to take them in.

"We are not going to keep them until the end of time," Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters. "We're not a hotel for Daesh," he said, using another name for the extremist group.

He said Turkey would hold captured foreign fighters "for some time. After that we'll send them back to their countries".

Mr Soylu said EU countries including the Netherlands and Britain had stripped some of the fighters of their nationality to prevent Ankara from sending them home.

"They found an easy solution," he said. "They say 'I took his nationality away, it's your problem now'. That's unacceptable in our view, that's totally irresponsible. What do you want me to do with your terrorist?"

Turkey last month launched an offensive in north-eastern Syria against a Kurdish militia Turkey has branded "terrorists", but which was at the forefront in the fight against Islamic State with the backing of Western governments.

As part of the offensive, Turkey took ISIS members into custody who had previously been held by the Kurds.

Others are said to have escaped from Syrian prisons in the chaos of the offensive.

The Turkish government regularly calls on European countries to repatriate their nationals belonging to Islamic State, but many governments are dragging their feet, fearing a public backlash and security problems.

Biography

Favourite Meal: Chicken Caesar salad

Hobbies: Travelling, going to the gym

Inspiration: Father, who was a captain in the UAE army

Favourite read: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter

Favourite film: The Founder, about the establishment of McDonald's

Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE squad

Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind

Fixtures

Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE