Iraq says Turkiye will repatriate its citizens from ISIS detainees

Iraq said on Monday that Turkiye has agreed to take back its citizens among the thousands of Islamic State detainees recently transferred from Syria.

The detainees were moved to Iraq after Kurdish forces shut down camps and prisons that had held Islamic State suspects for nearly a decade, following a Syrian government offensive. The transfers were carried out in coordination with the United States, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.

Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told U.S. envoy Tom Barrack that Baghdad has also been in talks with other countries to repatriate their nationals and had reached an agreement with Turkiye. Hussein emphasized that countries should recover their citizens involved in terrorist acts to ensure they are tried in their countries of origin.

The fate of suspected Islamic State fighters, along with thousands of women and children associated with the group, has become an urgent issue since Kurdish forces guarding them withdrew. At its height between 2014 and 2017, Islamic State controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq, establishing a self-proclaimed caliphate that drew fighters from around the world.

Iraq has said it will prosecute detainees on terrorism charges under its own legal system but continues to urge other countries to take responsibility for their nationals.

News.Az 

By Aysel Mammadzada