Turkey extradites 72 IS militants to their home countries

(Changing dateline) ANKARA, Dec 9 (KUNA) -- Turkey's Interior Ministry announced Monday that 72 members of the so-called Islamic State (IS) have been sent back to their respective home countries since November 11.
The deportees include 11 French nationals and one Greek who were sent back to their countries earlier today, Turkey's Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
"No matter what, we will send back Daesh/ISIS members, we are not their hotel," AA quoted Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu as saying last month.
The issue of the handling of IS militants and their families who were detained by the Turkish forces in northern Syria has been controversial, with Turkey arguing foreign-born terrorists should be returned to their countries of origin.
Ankara complained repeatedly that several European countries turned down its efforts to address this issue particularly after its army launched the Operation Peace Spring in northern Syria in October. (pickup previous) rs.gb