Turkey extradites another foreign terrorist

ANKARA

Turkey has extradited another foreign terrorist to his home country, according to the Turkish Interior Ministry on Monday.

In a statement, the ministry said that a Greek national affiliated with Daesh/ISIS was sent back to his country.

Earlier in the day, the ministry said that 71 foreign Daesh/ISIS members were sent to their home countries from Nov. 11 to Dec. 9.

"No matter what, we will send back Daesh/ISIS members, we are not their hotel," Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu had said last month.

The issue of the handling of Daesh/ISIS members and their families detained in Syria -- including foreign members of the terror group -- has been controversial, with Turkey arguing foreign-born terrorists should be returned to their countries of origin.

Ankara has said several European countries turned down its efforts to send Daesh/ISIS members back to their countries.

Turkey has so far deported 7,500 Daesh/ISIS members, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week, adding that there are currently 1,149 Daesh/ISIS terrorists in Turkish prisons.

*Writing by Sena Guler