Turkey deports 11 French citizens over Daesh links

Turkey deported 11 French citizens over links to the Daesh terrorist group, the Interior Ministry announced on Monday.

The ministry statement said that 71 foreign Daesh members were sent to their home countries from Nov. 11 to Dec. 9.

They include 18 German, 11 French, two Belgian, two Dutch, one Danish, one Australian, one British, one American, and one Irish nationals.

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

The issue of the handling of Daesh 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 members back to their countries.

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