More than 8,500 foreign fighters have been deported from Turkey since the start of the Syrian civil war 10 years ago, the Turkish Interior Ministry said on Saturday.
Terror suspects from 102 countries were expelled, including 44 from the US and 1,075 from EU states, according to a ministry statement. In the first 10 months of this year, 61 suspects from eight EU countries were deported.
The ministry said, a total of 8,585 fighters were “deported as a result of Turkey’s efforts to secure its security within and beyond the border” since 2011.
The deportees had left their home countries to join groups such as the Islamic State group and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, as well as its affiliate in Syria.