Turkey puts travel ban on more than 20,000 foreign fighters, Foreign Ministry says
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ISTANBULSep 03, 2015 - 12:00 am GMT+3
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Sep 03, 2015 12:00 am
Turkey has slapped a ban on 20,000 suspected foreign fighters, preventing them from heading to Syria and Iraq, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç said on Wednesday.
Turkey has deported more than 2,100 foreign fighters to their countries, Bilgiç told reporters, adding that more than 3,700 had been subjected to interrogation at special risk analysis units at airports. Some 1,450 of them were sent back after being declared suspects, he added.
Turkish officials have stressed the failure of European Union countries to halt the travel of foreign fighters and called on them to intensify intelligence sharing with Turkey on alleged terrorists.
Ankara describes the foreign fighter issue as "complicated" while calling on EU countries to stop foreign fighters as they leave their own countries.
The statement came a day after a Turkish soldier died and another went missing on Sept. 1 following cross-border fire from ISIS-held territory in neighboring Syria, local officials said.
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