Seventeen children whose parents joined the terrorist group Daesh were brought to Turkey from the orphanage in Iraq where they stayed.

The children including five below the age of 3 were flown to Turkey in the company of officials from the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad. Staff of the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services welcomed children at Esenboğa airport in the capital Ankara late Tuesday. Their fate is unclear, but they are expected to be taken into the care of Turkish social services or handed to any surviving next of kin.

Daesh emerged in Iraq and Syria and drew its power from foreign fighters, including Turks. Some militants took their young children with them to Daesh-controlled areas in Syria and Iraq. Data published by Vatan newspaper shows that 139 women and children from Turkey are in prisons in the semi-autonomous region of northern Iraq, while more than 900 Turkish women and children are being held in other cities controlled by the central Iraqi government for their links to the terrorist group. Some 27 Turkish women have already been sentenced to death for Daesh membership.