Turkey says it deported 3,300 suspected jihadists
Erdogan spokesman says eight IS members arrested, at least 2,000 people denied entry by Turkish authorities
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
A top Turkish official says Ankara has deported 3,300 foreigners suspected of links to jihadi groups, particularly the Islamic State militants, and another 41,000 foreigners have been barred from entering Turkey as part of the country’s fight against the militant group.
Turkish authorities also arrested eight members of IS who attempted to cross the border from Syria near Gaziantep, Reuters reported.
Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also said Monday that Turkish profiling teams have interviewed 9,500 people upon their arrival in Turkey. Some 2,000 of them were denied entry.
He says some 2,770 suspects, including 232 foreigners, have been caught in police sweeps and 954 of them are being prosecuted.
Turkey, long accused of turning a blind eye to the extremists crossing into Syria, has now taken a larger role in the fight against IS. Four deadly bomb attacks in Turkey since July have been blamed on IS.
Israeli earlier this month issued a travel warning calling on citizens to avoid visiting Turkey, and urging those currently staying there to leave as soon as possible, citing “real and immediate terror threats throughout the country.”
The alert said Islamic State terrorists in Turkey had “high capabilities” of carrying out further attacks against tourist targets.
An Islamic State bombing in downtown Istanbul on March 19 killed three Israeli tourists and an Iranian national.
The Times of Israel Community.