Turkey fury: How Erdogan is forcing EU to take back ISIS fighters

Last week, one fighter from the terror-group was sent back to the UK and brought into custody after Turkey refused to hold the unnamed prisoner. This came after the Turkish President has threatened to release the fighters should Western nations refuse to repatriate their nationals who have gone to Syria to fight for ISIS. While European nations in particular have resisted this by limiting communication with their nationals in prison camps in Syria, a Turkey and Middle East analyst has told Express.co.uk that the UK and its EU neighbours may not have much choice but to take ISIS fighters back.

This is because the other option, in the words of Dr Simon Waldman, is allowing Mr Erdogan to send refugees living in Turkey back to Kurdish regions in Syria, a policy that could amount to ethnic cleansing.

Dr Waldman, an associate fellow at the Henry Jackson Society’s Centre for the New Middle East and a visiting research fellow at King’s College London, told Express.co.uk: “I agree partly with what Erdogan is saying here, that Turkey should not be a hotel for ISIS fighters.

“It should be the policy of the United Kingdom and other European countries to repatriate those who joined the ISIS fight and put them on trial, and they should not just be left in Turkey or Syria.

“That being said, the problem with the Erdogan policy is this linkage, he is linking this sending of ISIS fighters back to Europe with the creation of the ‘safe zone’ in Kurdish areas.”

Mr Erdogan has threatened to move refugees living in Turkey into Syria should European nations not take back its fighters.

Dr Waldman continued: “Not only would it be a ‘safe zone’, it would also be a settlement for one to maybe two million refugees who are currently living in Turkey, but were not originally living in that area of Syria and predominantly Arab and not Kurdish, which would change the demographic of that region.

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While the process of repatriation would lead to obvious security threats, Dr Waldman states that the UK and other European countries should accept Mr Erdogan’s demand, and should have taken back fighters long before now.

Dr Waldman said: “It’s difficult for the UK and these other countries because what if you don’t have enough grounds to prosecute these people? This is the dangerous part of repatriation, especially because security services are already stretched.

“But sometimes it takes political will to do the right thing, and I think that was what was lacking from the UK and other European countries in the beginning.”

source: express.co.uk