Turkey says it deported 3,300 suspected jihadists

A top official says Turkey 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.

Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also says 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.

— AP