Ankara agreed to accept Turkish citizens imprisoned for links with IS

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said on Monday that Turkey had agreed to accept its citizens from among the thousands of Islamic State (IS) prisoners transferred to Iraq from Syria when its camps and prisons were closed in recent weeks, Reuters reported.

Iraq received the prisoners – previously held in Kurdish-run prisons in Syria – as part of an operation agreed with the United States after the withdrawal of Kurdish forces from parts of northern and eastern Syria and the closure of camps and prisons there. Suspects of IS membership were held there for almost a decade.

Baghdad has announced that it will try terrorism suspects under its own legal system, but has also repeatedly called on other countries to accept their citizens from among the thousands of prisoners. Minister Hussein told US envoy Tom Barrack that Iraq is in talks with other countries about the repatriation of their citizens and has already reached an agreement with Turkey.

“It appears that among those who went to Iraq there are also Turkish citizens. Ankara is ready to cooperate with the Iraqi authorities in the matter of Turkish citizens,” said a diplomatic source from Turkey, quoted by Reuters.

“Iraq's actions should set an example for the international community. It is necessary for all foreign terrorist fighters to be repatriated by their countries of origin,” the agency's interlocutor added.

A total of 7,000 may be transferred from Syria to facilities controlled by Iraq. people. The decision was made after Kurdish forces controlling northeastern Syria reached an agreement with Damascus to hand over control of the territory to the Syrian government.

Jakub Bawołek (PAP)

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